BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 151
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Date of Hearing: July 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Adam Gray, Chair
SB
151 (Hernandez) - As Introduced January 29, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 29-9
SUBJECT: Tobacco products: minimum legal age.
SUMMARY: This bill increases the minimum legal age (MLA) to
purchase or consume tobacco from 18 to 21 and makes additional
conforming changes to restrictions and enforcement mechanisms in
current law. Specifically, this bill:
1)Raises the minimum legal age (MLA) to purchase and consume
tobacco products to 21 and makes all conforming changes in
current law.
2)Establishes minimum state restrictions regarding tobacco
purchase and possession and does not preempt local ordinances
that impose a more restrictive legal age.
3)Extends the applicability of the 21 years of age restriction
to provisions of the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement
Act (STAKE Act).
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EXISTING LAW:
1) Requires states to enact and enforce laws that prohibit the
sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to minors under the
age of 18.
2) Makes it a misdemeanor, subject to civil action and fines,
any individual who knowingly or under circumstances furnishes,
gives, or sells cigarettes or tobacco products to minors under
the age of 18.
3) The California Cigarette and Tobacco Licensing Act of 2003,
requires a retailer to obtain a license from BOE to engage in
the sale of cigarette and tobacco products in California.
4) The STAKE Act establishes various requirements for retailers
relating to tobacco sales to minors. Specifically:
a) Prevents retailers from selling cigarettes and tobacco
products to minors under the age of 18 and requires that
retailers check identification of individuals trying to buy
cigarettes and tobacco products who appear under the age of 18.
b) Increases civil penalties and expands the number of
agencies that are permitted to carry out investigations of
illegal tobacco sales to minors from the State Department of
Public Health (DPH) to include the Attorney General and other
state and local agencies.
c) Makes certain violations of the STAKE Act a criminal
offense.
d). Requires DPH to take primary responsibility for
enforcement of the STAKE Act and requires DPH to conduct
random, onsite inspections of retail sites.
e) Requires DPH to enlist the assistance of persons who
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are 15 or 16 years of age for this purpose and requires the
DPH to adopt and publish guidelines for the use of minors in
inspections, as specified.
g) Permits DPH to enter into an agreement with a local
law enforcement agency for delegation of enforcement of the
STAKE Act.
5) Makes it a misdemeanor (Penal Code Section 308) for a
retailer to knowingly or under circumstances in which it has
knowledge, or should otherwise have grounds for knowledge,
sell, give, or in any way furnish a minor with tobacco
products or paraphernalia.
6) Violations of the STAKE Act or Penal Code Section 308 result
in BOE action, on a set schedule, relating to the licensure of
the retailer when the youth purchase survey finds that 13% or
more of youth are able to purchase cigarettes, and makes the
board's authority inoperative when a youth purchase survey
shows less than 13% of youth were able to purchase cigarettes.
7) Provides that a violation of the STAKE Act or Penal Code
Section 308 is punishable by a fine of two hundred dollars
($200) for the first conviction, five hundred dollars ($500)
for the second offense, and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for
the third offense. For the 4th to 7th conviction of a
violation, inclusive, in 12 months, the retailer's license to
sell cigarettes and tobacco products is suspended for 90 days.
For the 8th conviction of a violation in 24 months, the
retailer's license is revoked.
8) Provides for a 30-day appeal of BOE's decision.
9) Establishes an adult is an individual who is 18 years of age
or older (FAM Sec. 6501)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
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COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill : According to the author, an estimated 90
percent of tobacco users start prior to age 21, and 80 percent
of lifetime users start before the age of 18. By increasing the
MLA to 21, this bill intends to prevent or severely restrict
youth access to these highly addictive and deadly products. The
consumption of tobacco products leads to a lifetime of adverse
health effects and remains the leading cause of preventable
death in the nation and California. This bill aims to achieve
better health outcomes for Californians, while lowering the
immense cost on the health care system of tobacco-related
disease. UC San Francisco (UCSF) reported tobacco use cost a
staggering $18.1 billion in California alone, with $9.8 billion
in direct health care expenditures. In 2013, to address the
burden of tobacco, the federal Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study the
effectiveness of raising the MLA. The IOM concluded that
raising the MLA to 21 would cause the smoking prevalence to
decline by 12 percent more than existing control policies.
California already has a 21 year age restriction for other
dangerous activities; it is time for tobacco to be added to that
list. This bill will help California be a leader in tobacco
control and take steps towards eliminating the addictive,
costly, and deadly habit of tobacco use.
Background : According to the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), tobacco use causes cancer, heart disease,
stroke, lung diseases, and diabetes and remains the leading
cause of preventable death in the United States, resulting in
over 480,000 deaths annually. A study conducted by UCSF
estimated that, in 2009, 34,000 deaths in California were
attributable to smoking. Furthermore, according to the United
States Department of Health and Human Services (DHS),
approximately 80 percent of adult smokers began smoking before
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the age of 18. Youth smoking is associated with greater
likelihood of adult smoking, heavier use of cigarettes, and more
difficulty in quitting.
Research shows a sharp decline in smoking according to the DHS.
With the passage of Proposition 99 in 1988 and the enactment of
subsequent legislation throughout the 1990s, California has
mounted the largest and most comprehensive anti-smoking campaign
in the United States. DHS states that California's campaign
sets the standard for the rest of the nation and the world,
setting a goal of changing public perception of tobacco use and
emphasizing local interventions, regional coalitions, media,
research, and evaluation. The campaign has focused on four key
areas: countering pro-tobacco influences; protecting youth and
adults from secondhand smoke; reducing the availability of
tobacco products to youth; and, providing support for quitting
tobacco use. Since the passage of Proposition 99, adult smoking
prevalence dropped by more than 30 percent and per-capita
cigarette consumption in California fell by more than 50
percent.
Youth : The CDC states that nearly all tobacco users begin during
their youth, with 3,200 adolescents trying their first cigarette
each day. DPH estimates that 64 percent of smokers in California
start before age 18. According to DPH, California has one of
the lowest teenage smoking rates in the nation. However, the
prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among youth has greatly
increased, and there has been a slowing decline in rates of
cigarette smoking among youth. Through implementation of the
STAKE Act, California also has seen a steady decline in illegal
sales to minors, although there has been a slight increase in
recent years.
Other States : In 1992, Congress passed the Synar Amendment,
which requires states to pass and enforce laws that prohibit the
sale of tobacco to minors. It also requires that federal
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alcohol and substance abuse block grant funding be applied to
enforcing state law in a manner that can reasonably be expected
to reduce the illegal sales rate of tobacco products to minors.
Up to 40 percent of the block grant funding can be withheld from
states for not complying with the Synar Amendment. All states
are currently in compliance; 45 States have a MLA of 18 to
purchase or consume tobacco; while Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey
and Utah are 19. On Friday, June 19, 2015, Hawaii Governor,
David Ige, signed SB 1030 (Baker) into law, making Hawaii the
first state to raise the MLA to 21. Colorado and Utah have
pending legislation to increase the MLA to 21 as well.
Support : The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS
CAN) argues SB 151, a bill that would raise the minimum age to
purchase cigarettes to 21 years old. This bill is important
because nationally 95% of adult smokers start before they turn
21. Half of adult daily smokers become addicted before the age
of 18 and 80% of adult smokers become addicted before they turn
21. It is estimated that 34,000 Californians will die from
smoking every year. There are 441,000 children who are alive now
that will die prematurely due to smoking-related disease. It is
the single largest preventable cause of death. Smoking kills
more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs,
murders and suicides combined. The annual health care costs in
California directly caused by smoking are $13.29 billion.
Medi-Cal covers $3.5 billion of those costs each year.
They contend the tobacco companies know that increasing the
minimum age of purchase to 21 would result in fewer people
smoking. In fact, a report by Philip Morris in 1986 stated
"Raising the legal minimum age for cigarette purchaser to 21
could gut our key young adult market (17-20) where we sell about
25 billion cigarettes and enjoy a 70 percent market share." SB
151 is an important component in a comprehensive strategy to
reduce youth consumption of tobacco and prevent a lifelong
addiction.
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Opposition : The California Retailers Association argues the FDA
is required to study the public health implications of
increasing the minimum legal age to purchase or consume tobacco
and report its findings to congress this year. Congress has
established a thoughtful process for understanding this issue
and states should allow this process to occur. States and
localities should defer to this federal process and allow
Congress to consider the FDA report before enacting any changes
in minimum laws.
The Cigar Association of California argues if an individual at
age 18 can be eligible to vote, serve in the military, enter
into legally binding contracts, and be held accountable for
adult crimes they ought to be entrusted to make their own
decisions about whether to purchase tobacco products. A law
such as this would put an employee of a tobacco retail
establishment in the unfortunate position of having to deny the
sale of tobacco products to a young man or woman in uniform who
is under the age of 21.
Policy Concerns :
1. California and Federal law define an adult as an
individual 18 years of age or older. Upon entering the
age of majority, a person is granted a variety of choices
that the government deems are fit for only adults, some
of which include: The right to enlist in the military;
the right to vote; the right to purchase and own a long
gun and be held subject to adult sentencing laws. State
and Federal government has entrusted individuals 18 years
and older to make these decisions as an adult, all of
which have consequences. The committee may wish to
consider that the current age of majority is sufficient
for an individual to decide to use tobacco or
e-cigarettes.
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2. If signed, this bill would go into effect on January
1, 2016, which would make it illegal overnight for 18 to
20 year olds to purchase tobacco. Individuals, who are
already legally addicted to tobacco, will be forced to
quit. In all likelihood, the majority of this population
would attempt to purchase tobacco products illegally
through retailer or black market channels.
Related legislation : SB 151 (Hernández) of 2015. Increases the
minimum legal age to purchase or consume tobacco from 18 to 21
and makes additional conforming changes to restrictions and
enforcement mechanisms in current law. (Pending in Assembly
G.O. Committee)
AB 216 (Garcia) of 2015. Prohibits the sale of any device
intended to deliver a non-nicotine product in a vapor state, to
be directly inhaled by the user, to a person under 18 years of
age. (Pending in Senate Appropriations)
SB 24 (Hill) of 2015. Extends STAKE Act requirements to the
sale of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), distinct from the
definition of tobacco products, and requires enforcement, as
specified, to begin July 1, 2016; extends current smoke-free
laws and penalties to e-cigs; requires e-cig cartridges to be in
childproof packaging, as defined; broadens the current
definition of e-cigs, as specified; and requires all retailers
of e-cigs to apply for licensure to sell e-cigs, as specified.
(Failed passage on the Senate Floor and is pending
reconsideration)
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SB 438 (Hill) of 2015. Requires all cartridges for electronic
cigarettes and solutions for filling and refilling an electronic
cigarette to be in child-resistant packaging. (Pending in
Assembly G.O. Committee)
SB 591 (Pan) of 2015. Imposes an additional excise tax of $2.00
per package of 20 cigarettes. This bill also (1) imposes an
equivalent one-time "floor stock tax" on the cigarettes held or
stored by dealers and wholesalers, and (2) indirectly increases
the tobacco products tax. (Ordered to inactive file on Senate
Floor)
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
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American Lung Association in California
Association of California Healthcare Districts
Association of Northern California Oncologists
Breathe California
California Academy of Family Physicians
California Academy of Preventive Medicine
California Black Health Network
California Center for Public Health Advocacy
California Chapter of the American College of Cardiology
California Chapter of the American College of Emergency
Physicians
California Dental Association
California Medical Association
California Optometric Association
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California Pharmacists Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California Primary Care Association
California Society of Addiction Medicine
California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
City Attorney of Los Angeles, Mike Feuer
City of Encinitas
County Behavioral Health Directors Association
El Monte/South El Monte Chamber of Commerce
First 5 California
First 5 Association of California
First 5 Riverside Commission
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Health Officers Association of California
Kaiser Permanente
March of Dimes California Chapter
Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Child and Adolescent
Health Research and Policy
Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc.
Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation
San Marcos Prevention Coalition
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Service Employees International Union California
Solano County Board of Supervisors
Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee
Opposition
Cigar Association of America, Inc.
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California Retailers Association
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Analysis Prepared by:Kenton Stanhope / G.O. / (916)
319-2531