BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 7 X2
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 7
X2 (Hernandez)
As Amended March 2, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 25-11
SUMMARY: Raises the minimum legal smoking age from 18 to 21;
conforms existing law regarding the purchase, sale, and
enforcement of tobacco and tobacco products to reflect the new
age limit; and, clarifies that these provisions are not intended
to prohibit a local standard from imposing a more restrictive
legal age to purchase or possess tobacco products. Deletes
existing penalties applicable when a person under 18 years of
age purchases, receives, or possesses certain tobacco products.
Specifies that the provisions of this bill do not apply to
active duty military personnel who are 18 years of age or older,
and that an identification card issued by the United States
Armed Forces will be considered proof of age for this purpose.
Addresses chaptering out issues with AB 6 X2 (Cooper), SB 5 X2
(Leno), and AB 8 X2 (Wood) of the current legislative session.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
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Committee:
1)Likely ongoing costs in the tens of thousands to low hundreds
of thousands per year for additional survey activities at
retail stores that sell tobacco products (Cigarette and
Tobacco Tax Surcharge Fund).
2)Current federal law requires the state to determine the rate
at which individuals under 18 years of age are able to
illegally purchase tobacco products. The Department of Public
Health (DPH) conducts random inspections at about 750 retail
locations annually to determine a statewide average rate at
which retailers are not in compliance with state and federal
law. The total annual cost to conduct the current survey is
$400,000. Federal law would continue to require the DPH to
conduct the existing survey. In addition, it is likely that
under this bill DPH would expand the existing survey, to
determine the rate at which individuals between 18 and 21
years of age are able to purchase tobacco products.
3)Likely ongoing costs in the hundreds of thousands per year for
enforcement actions relating to illegal sales of tobacco
products to individuals between 18 and 21 years of age
(General Fund (GF) or tobacco tax funds).
4)Under current law, DPH enforces the law prohibiting the sale
of tobacco products to minors by conducting compliance
inspections using youth decoy purchasers and following up on
complaints from the public. The total annual cost for DPH's
enforcement program is $1.6 million per year.
5)By raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products, this
bill is likely to substantially increase DPH's enforcement
workload, at least in the early years. In order to continue
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to comply with federal restrictions on the sale of tobacco to
individuals under age 18, it is likely that DPH will need to
keep much of its existing enforcement program in place. In
addition, DPH will likely need to take separate enforcement
actions against retailers who sell tobacco products to
individuals between 18 and 21 years of age. Over time, it is
possible that DPH will be able to combine its enforcement
activities, reducing overall costs. The total additional
enforcement cost is unknown at this time, but is likely to be
in the hundreds of thousands per year, based on existing
enforcement costs. Because the state has fully allocated the
existing federal funding for this program, any additional
costs will be borne by the GF, tobacco tax funds, or other
fund sources.
6)Reduced total excise tax and sales tax revenues on tobacco
products of $68 million per year in the near term (various
funds). The Board of Equalization (BOE) projects reduced
tobacco excise tax revenues of about $43 million per year
(about $4 million of which would come from the GF and the
remainder from special funds that support a variety of public
health programs). BOE estimates reduced sales tax revenues of
about $25 million per year (about $13 million coming from the
GF and the remainder coming from local government sales tax
revenues). This tax loss analysis assumes a reduction in
tobacco use proportional to the share of the population
between 18 and 21.
7)Additional future reductions in tobacco excise and sales tax,
likely over $100 million per year (various funds). In the
long-run, this bill will reduce tobacco tax use both by
prohibiting its use among those 18 to 21 and by reducing the
long-term smoking rate in the adult population, because
delaying initial tobacco use reduces the likelihood of
long-term use. According to the federal Institute of
Medicine, raising the legal minimum age to purchase tobacco
products is likely to reduce the overall long-term smoking
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rate amongst adults by 12%. This is because most long-term
tobacco users begin using tobacco products before age 21 and a
relatively low number of long-term tobacco product users begin
using such products after age 21.
8)Unknown, but significant health care cost savings to public
payers (various funds). According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, estimates of annual direct health care
costs related to smoking are between $130 billion and $180
billion per year, nationally. This bill is likely to reduce
health care costs, by reducing tobacco use rates. If the
long-term reduction in the expenditure of health care costs
relating to smoking is proportional to the reduction in the
use rate, total direct health care costs in the state would be
reduced by as much as $2 billion per year in the long-run. A
significant portion of those savings would likely accrue to
public payers such as the Medi-Cal program and the California
Public Employees' Retirement System.
COMMENTS: According to the author, the health care impacts and
cost to society of tobacco products has been widely documented
and is no longer disputed. The author notes that adolescent
brains are more vulnerable to nicotine addiction, and people who
reach the age of 21 as non-smokers have a minimal chance of
becoming a smoker. The author states that tobacco use results
in increased health care costs and changing the legal age will
positively influence the adoption rate of tobacco use. The
author contends the legal age for tobacco is no more carved in
stone than that of alcohol consumption or voting, both of which
changed when society determined there was compelling evidence or
need to re-examine those public policies. The author concludes
the evidence and need are clear on the legal age for tobacco and
now is time for us to make this change.
BACKGROUND.
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1)Health effects of smoking. Smoking is a major cause of many
deadly health problems heart disease, aneurysms, bronchitis,
emphysema, and stroke. Using tobacco can damage a womans
reproductive health and hurt babies. Tobacco use is linked
with reduced fertility and a higher risk of miscarriage, early
delivery (premature birth), and stillbirth. It is also a
cause of low birth-weight in infants and has been linked to a
higher risk of birth defects and sudden infant death syndrome.
Smoking causes 80% of all deaths from chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, and causes stroke and coronary heart
disease, the leading causes of death in the United States.
Smokers are 30% to 40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes
than nonsmokers, and people with diabetes who smoke are more
likely than nonsmokers to have trouble with insulin dosing and
with controlling their disease.
Smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the
Unites States, or about one in five deaths. The average
annual smoking-attributable mortality rate in California for
the years 2000-04 was 235 per 100,000. The range across
states is 138.3 per 100,000 to 370.6 per 100,000. California
ranks sixth lowest per capita among all 50 states in deaths
attributed to smoking. If nobody smoked, one of every three
cancer deaths in the United States would not happen.
2)Smoking and youth. California monitors smoking rates among
high school students using the California Student Tobacco
Survey (CSTS). The 2012 survey showed the percentage of
California high school students who reported smoking a
cigarette within the previous 30 days was 10.5%, or 297,000
students. Smoking among high school students in California is
declining consistently and is lower than for the rest of the
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United States. Student smoking rates declined 51% from 2000
to 2012; however, there are substantial differences in student
smoking prevalence when examined by race or ethnicity. While
rates declined for non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and
Asian/Pacific Islanders, the rate for African-Americans
increased by 15.9% over this same time period.
3)Youth use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). According
to the January 2015 State Health Officer's report on
e-cigarettes, "A Community Health Threat," e-cigarette use is
rising rapidly. In California, use among young adults ages 18
to 29 tripled in one year. The report notes that while the
long-term health impact resulting from use of this product is
presently unknown, it is known that e-cigarettes emit at least
10 chemicals that are found on California's Proposition 65
list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or
other reproductive harm. A study published July 27, 2015, in
the Journal of Pediatrics surveyed almost 2,100 California
high school students, and found that one-quarter had tried
e-cigarettes. Ten percent were currently using e-cigarettes,
and those current users where much more likely than their
peers to also smoke cigarettes. E-cigarettes are currently
defined in California law as products designed to deliver
nicotine or other substances to a user in the form of a vapor.
State law also prohibits anyone from selling or furnishing an
e-cigarette to anyone under the age of 18.
4)Effect of raising the minimum legal smoking age. A March 2015
Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Public Health Implications
of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco
Products, examined the impacts of raising the legal minimum
smoking age to 19, 21, and 25. The IOM determined that
relative to status quo projected decreases, raising the age to
19 would result in a 3% additional decrease; raising the age
to 21, a 12% additional decrease; and, raising the age to 25,
a 15% additional decrease. The IOM concluded that the age
group most impacted by raising the minimum legal age would be
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15 to 17 year olds for any of the three ages studied. The IOM
argued that increasing the age for tobacco purchase will
result in delayed use of such products, which in turn will
decrease the prevalence of users. The IOM report stated that
raising the smoking age to 21 would result in 200,000 fewer
premature deaths and potentially millions of years of life
gained for those born between 2000 and 2019. On June 9, 2015,
the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors adopted an
ordinance to raise the purchase age for tobacco and electronic
smoking products from 18 to 21, effective January 1, 2016.
Santa Clara County is the first California county to pass such
an ordinance.
Analysis Prepared by:
Lara Flynn / P.H. & D.S. / (916) 319-2097 FN:
0002646