BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  SB 977
          Author:   Pan (D), et al.
          Amended:  4/19/16  
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE:  9-0, 4/13/16
           AYES:  Hernandez, Nguyen, Hall, Mitchell, Monning, Nielsen,  
            Pan, Roth, Wolk

          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

           SUBJECT:   Tobacco:  youth sports events


          SOURCE:    St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School 8th Grade  
          Class
          
          DIGEST:  This bill prohibits a person from smoking a tobacco  
          product, as defined, within 250 feet of a youth sports event, as  
          defined. Broadens the definition of "smoke or smoking" in  
          existing law.

          ANALYSIS: 
          
          Existing law:

          1)Prohibits the smoking of a cigarette, cigar, or other  
            tobacco-related product, and the disposal of cigarette butts,  
            cigar butts, or any other tobacco-related waste, within 25  
            feet of any playground or tot lot sandbox, as defined. Defines  
            "smoke or smoking" to mean the carrying of a lighted pipe,  
            cigar, or cigarette of any kind, or the lighting of a pipe,  
            cigar, or cigarette of any kind, including, but not limited  








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            to, tobacco, or any other weed or plant.

          2)Prohibits the intimidation, threat of any reprisal, or effect  
            of any reprisal, for the purpose of retaliating against  
            another person who seeks to attain compliance with existing  
            law.

          3)Provides that any person who violates the law is guilty of an  
            infraction punishable by a fine of two hundred fifty dollars  
            ($250) for each violation. Prohibits existing law from being  
            applied to private property.

          This bill:

          1)Prohibits a person from smoking a tobacco product within 250  
            feet of a youth sports event. Defines "youth sports event" as  
            any practice, game, or related activity organized by any  
            entity at which athletes up to 18 years of age are present.  
            Prohibits the provisions of this bill from being applied to  
            private property.

          2)Deletes the existing definition of "smoke or smoking" and  
            recasts to define "smoke or smoking" as inhaling, exhaling,  
            burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar, cigarette,  
            or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant  
            product intended for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic,  
            in any manner or in any form. Provides that "smoking" includes  
            the use of an electronic smoking device that creates an  
            aerosol or vapor, in any manner or in any form, or the use of  
            any oral smoking device for the purpose of circumventing the  
            prohibition of smoking.

          3)Provides that "tobacco product" means any of the following:

             a)   A product containing, made, or derived from tobacco or  
               nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether  
               smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled,  
               snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means,  
               including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, little  
               cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, or snuff; 

             b)   An electronic device that delivers nicotine or other  
               vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device,  
               including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette,  







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               cigar, pipe, or hookah; and, 

             c)   Any component, part, or accessory of a tobacco product,  
               whether or not sold separately.

          4)Prohibits the preemption of the authority of any county, city,  
            or city and county to regulate the use of tobacco products  
            around a youth sports event. Allows a county, city, or city  
            and county to enforce any ordinance adopted before January 1,  
            2017, or to adopt and enforce a new regulation that is more  
            restrictive than the provisions in this bill, on and after  
            January 1, 2017.


          Comments
          
          1)Author's statement. According to the author, youth sports  
            events should promote healthy habits for children, but current  
            law doesn't ensure a healthy, tobacco-free environment for our  
            young athletes. SB 977 would protect our state's youth and  
            promote public health by prohibiting the use of tobacco  
            products within 250 feet of a sporting event. Youth sports  
            should encourage young people to develop healthy habits that  
            will help them for the rest of their lives-not expose them to  
            the many health risks associated with secondhand smoke or  
            encourage them to take up tobacco products themselves.  
            Secondhand smoke increases the risk of asthma, lung infection  
            and ear disease, among other serious health conditions-and  
            children are more sensitive to these negative health effects.  
            Ninety percent of adult smokers begin while in their teens, or  
            earlier; and two-thirds become regular, daily smokers before  
            they reach the age of 19. Studies have shown that starting to  
            smoke at an early age increases the number of cigarettes  
            smoked per day in adult life, compounding the risk of  
            tobacco-related diseases. We have no reason to promote such  
            dangerous, long-lasting habits at our youth sports events.
            
          2)Smoking prevalence. According to the 2012 Surgeon General's  
            Report, nearly 90% of smokers in the U.S. started smoking by  
            the age of 18, and 99% started by age 26. In California, 64%  
            of smokers start by the age of 18, and 96% start by age 26.  
            According to the California Department of Public Health (DPH),  
            in 2010, 36.8% of high school students had smoked a whole  
            cigarette by age 13 or 14, and in 2012, illegal tobacco sales  







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            to minors rose to 8.7% from 5.6% in 2011. According to DPH, in  
            2010, 11.9% of the state's adults smoked, down from 13.1% in  
            2009, making California one of only two states to reach the  
            federal Healthy People 2020 target of reducing the adult  
            smoking prevalence rate to 12%. However, research highlights  
            that the burdens of smoking do not fall evenly across the  
            state. According to the American Lung Association (ALA),  
            African-American men and women have the highest smoking usage  
            rate at 21.3% and 17.1% respectively, followed by white men at  
            17.2% and Latino men at 16%. The ALA reports that Korean men  
            have an unusually high tobacco usage rate at 27.9%, as do  
            Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender women who smoke at  
            almost triple the rate of women in general.

          3)Tobacco-related diseases. Every year, an estimated 443,000  
            people in the U.S. die from tobacco and smoking-related  
            illnesses or exposure to secondhand smoke, according to the  
            federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The  
            CDC also reports that another 8.6 million people suffer from  
            serious smoking-related illnesses. According to DPH, smoking  
            causes ischemic heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic  
            lower respiratory diseases, which are the leading causes of  
            death and disability among adults in California.  
            Smoking-attributed diseases are an economic burden due not  
            only to health care expenses but also productivity losses  
            related to disability or early death. DPH asserts, since the  
            passage of Proposition 99, adult smoking rates declined by  
            more than 40% from 22.7% to 13.3% in 2008. As smoking rates  
            declined, mortality and morbidity rates for diseases related  
            to smoking also declined. This parallel trend, according to  
            DPH, supports causal association between these conditions and  
            smoking.  

          4)Alternative tobacco products. According to DPH, prevalence of  
            smokeless and other tobacco products have increased among high  
            school students, which often do not have the same regulations  
            placed upon them as cigarettes. In recent years, sales of  
            smokeless tobacco and nicotine products, like snus, have risen  
            dramatically. Hookah, popular with teens and young adults, has  
            been shown to contain the same cancer-causing chemicals as  
            secondhand smoke. Smokeless tobacco has been linked to oral  
            cancer, pancreatic cancer, and gum disease. DPH recently  
            released a report on electronic cigarettes, which stated that  
            teen use of electronic cigarettes has surpassed the use of  







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            traditional cigarettes and marketing of these products has  
            increased 1200% in the last three years. Electronic cigarettes  
            deliver nicotine to the user, which, research from the  
            Institute of Medicine shows, can be harmful to brain  
            development in adolescents. The DPH report asserts that the  
            aerosol emitted from electronic cigarettes is toxic and  
            contains at least 10 chemicals known to cause cancer, birth  
            defects, and other poor health outcomes. 

          Prior/Related Legislation
          
          SBX2 5 (Leno, Chapter 7, Statutes of 2016, Second Extraordinary  
          Session), recast and broadened the definition of "tobacco  
          product" in current law to include electronic cigarettes as  
          specified; extends current restrictions and prohibitions against  
          the use of tobacco products to electronic cigarettes; extends  
          current licensing requirements for manufacturers, importers,  
          distributors, wholesalers, and retailers of tobacco products to  
          electronic cigarettes; requires electronic cigarette cartridges  
          to be child-resistant; and exempts active duty military  
          personnel, as specified, from the requirement of being 21 years  
          of age or older to purchase tobacco products. 

          SBX2 7 (Hernandez, Chapter 8, Statutes of 2016, Second  
          Extraordinary Session), increased the minimum legal age to  
          purchase or consume tobacco from 18 to 21. The bill also removed  
          penalty provisions for those under 21 in possession of tobacco  
          and exempts military personnel from the age increase.

          ABX2 7 (Stone, Chapter 4, Statutes of 2016, Second Extraordinary  
          Session), removed many (but not all) exemptions in existing law  
          that allow tobacco smoking in certain indoor workplaces and  
          expands the prohibition on smoking in a place of employment to  
          include owner-operated businesses. 

          AB 768 (Thurmond, Chapter 779, Statutes of 2015), prohibits,  
          commencing December 1, 2016, the use or possession of smokeless  
          tobacco products, as defined, on the playing field of a baseball  
          stadium during a professional baseball game or practice.
            
          SB 648 (Corbett, of 2013), would have extended the restrictions  
          and prohibitions against the smoking of tobacco products to  
          include restrictions or prohibitions against e-cigarette in  
          various places, including, but not limited to, places of  







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          employment, school campuses, public buildings, day care  
          facilities, retail food facilities, and health facilities. SB  
          648 failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes

          SUPPORT:  (Verified  5/18/16)

          St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School 8th Grade Class (source)
          American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
          American Lung Association in California
          American Heart Association/American Stroke Association
          Association of California Healthcare Districts
          California Association of Recreation and Park Districts
          California Optometric Association 
          California State PTA
          California Catholic Conference 
          County Health Executives Association of California


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified  5/18/16)


          None received


          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:     Supporters argue that according to the  
          U.S. Surgeon General there is no risk-free level of exposure to  
          secondhand smoke, and in 2006, the California Air Resources  
          Board classified secondhand smoke as a toxic air contaminant,  
          akin to asbestos, cyanide, and arsenic-all of which can lead to  
          serious illness and death. Supporters state that children,  
          pregnant women, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses  
          are especially vulnerable to harmful effects of secondhand  
          smoke, which can cause asthma in children who have previously  
          not shown symptoms. Supporters state that this bill will protect  
          participating youth and their families from secondhand smoke, as  
          well as prevent the encouragement of youth to take up smoking,  
          which is the number one cause of preventable death in the U.S.


           







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          Prepared by:Reyes Diaz/ HEALTH /
          5/18/16 16:27:52


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