BILL NUMBER: S2441

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to prohibiting the
retail sale of flavored tobacco products and accessories

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill adds a new Section 1399-cc-1 to the Public
Health Law to prohibit the sale or offer for retail sale in New York
State of any tobacco product with a "characterizing flavor" or any
accessory that imparts a "characterizing flavor" to a tobacco product.
Violations would be punishable by a civil fine of not more than five
hundred dollars.

The bill would also prohibit enforcement agents, police officers, peace
officers, or other law enforcement officers from stopping, questioning,
searching, or arresting any person on grounds of or in relation to
possession, consumption, or purchase of any flavored tobacco product, or
for the purpose of inquiring or determining how or from what person or
entity the person obtained a flavored tobacco product.
              

Section two of the bill establishes the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States,
as cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per
year. The CDC also adds, "If smoking continues at the current rate among
U.S. youth, 5.6 million of today's Americans younger than 18 years of
age are expected to die prematurely from a smoking-related illness."

Though federal law prohibits the sale of almost all flavored cigarettes,
it does not prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes, and does not
restrict flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes.  This inaction
has permitted tobacco products to remain appealing to young people and
adults alike, despite their devastating health impacts.

People of color have been particularly targeted by tobacco companies
pushing menthol cigarettes. For decades, these companies have spent
millions of dollars on advertisements, sponsorships, and promotions
targeted towards communities predominantly composed of people of color.

In fact, research shows that areas with larger Black and Latinx popu-
lations have more tobacco retailers, and retailers in those areas are
more likely to display exterior tobacco advertisements. A 2013 study by
researchers affiliated with Stanford University also found that Afri-
can-American youth were three times more likely than others to recognize
the Newport brand, a leading manufacturer of menthol cigarettes.

Unfortunately, this predatory, intentional targeting has been success-
ful. Today, 85% of African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes,
which is nearly three times the rate of white smokers (29%). That's up
from just 5% in the 1950s. The highest rates of menthol cigarette smok-
ing in the U.S. are among African-American youth ages 12-17 (about 7 in
10, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids). And alarmingly,
data shows that African-American and Latino menthol smokers successfully
quit at a lower rate than non-menthol smokers in their same ethnic
groups. This is a major reason why the NAACP has vocally supported
banning the sale of menthol cigarettes for years.

According to the Public Health Law Center, reports commissioned by the
FDA have concluded that "removing menthol from all commercial tobacco
products would benefit the public's health and save thousands of lives,
33 to 50 percent of which would be African American." The Center also
notes that "at least half of all teen smokers use menthol tobacco
products," and "menthol cigarettes are used at disproportionately higher
rates by racial and ethnic minority smokers."

Research also shows that the LGBTQ community is also significantly more
likely to smoke menthol cigarettes, as more than 36% of LGBT smokers
report primarily smoking menthols. When paired with other tobacco indus-
try targeting, this has resulted in disproportionately high rates of
smoking among LBGTQ individuals, particularly transgender individuals.

This targeting has real-life health consequences for hundreds of thou-
sands of New Yorkers. The New York State Department of Health notes that
the use of tobacco products takes nearly 30,000 New Yorkers' lives per
year and costs us $10.4 billion in health care expenses and billions
more in lost workplace productivity.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, more than 290 locali-
ties across the country have restricted the sale of flavored tobacco
products in some form, and at least 100 communities "restrict the sale
of menthol cigarettes, in addition to other flavored tobacco products."

Most notably, Massachusetts became the first state to enact a complete
ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol,
cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes, which took effect in June 2020.
California followed suit by enacting similar legislation in August 2020.

New York State government must do everything in its power to diminish
the appeal of tobacco products and encourage smoking cessation, while
ensuring that individual New Yorkers aren't subjected to increased,
unnecessary interactions with law enforcement personnel.

Importantly, this bill would not apply to the possession of such
flavored tobacco products, and contains language specifically prohibit-
ing law enforcement from stopping, questioning, searching, or arresting
people based on their possession, consumption, or purchase of flavored
tobacco products.

New York took bold action to protect public health and reduce children's
exposure to tobacco products by banning the sale of flavored vapor
products in the FY 2020-21 Enacted Budget. While that was a landmark
step, we must go further to discourage tobacco use and remedy the
historical inequities and negative health impacts to communities of
color and other populations caused by the tobacco industry.

This bill would make New York a national leader in discouraging tobacco
usage by prohibiting the retail sale of all flavored tobacco products
and accessories, including menthol flavors.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.0084 of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Health

A.4399 of 2021-2022 (Bichotte): Died in Health

S.6809-B of 2019-2020 (Hoylman): Died in Health

A.8808-B of 2019-2020 (Bichotte): Died in Health

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:  This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after
it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
completed on or before such effective date.