Relates to penalties for the illegal shipment of cigarettes

1 Co-sponsor

• Martin J. Golden

BILL NUMBER:S5215A

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to the shipment of cigarettes

Purpose or general idea of bill

To strengthen enforcement of the law prohibiting the shipment of cigarettes except under certain circumstances.

Summary of specific provisions

Section one of the bill amends subdivision 1 of Public Health Law 1399-11, which currently allows shipping of cigarettes to government employees acting in accordance with their official duties. The added text provides that it is permissible to ship cigarettes to a government employee only when such an individual "presents himself or herself as" an employee acting in accordance with official duties; amends subdivision 5 of section 1399-11 to provide an alternative to the existing civil penalty of $5000 per violation. The alternative civil penalty would be $100 per pack.

Section two adds a new subdivision 6 to section 1399-11 to provide that the Attorney General may bring an action to recover civil penalties and to provide that the Corporation Counsel of any political subdivision that imposes a tax on cigarettes may bring an action to recover civil penalties for violations within his or her jurisdiction. Any civil penalties obtained by these actions will be retained by the state or political subdivision bringing such action and no person shall be required to pay civil penalties to both the state and a political subdivision for the same violation.

Justification

New York State's cigarette shipment law, which prohibits the transport and delivery of cigarettes by sellers and common carriers to consumers, is an effective tool to ensure that minors do not have access to purchase cigarettes. Prior to the implementation of this law, studies found that youth had no trouble purchasing cigarettes without proof of age via the Internet. Between 2000 and 2004, the rate of smoking among high school students in New York State declined from 27.1% to 10.5%, due to many measures, including tax increases and clean indoor air laws, as well as this statute.

Pursuant to the statute's current text, cigarettes can be legally shipped to government employees acting in accordance with their official duties. Therefore, it is possible that a person who violates the law by shipping cigarettes to someone performing a "sting" operation could assert as a defense that the government employee buying the cigarettes was acting in accordance with his or her official duties. The proposed amendment to Public Health Law section 1399-11 (1) addresses this problem.

The addition of a new subdivision 6 to Public Health Law section 1399-11 provides for more effective enforcement of the statute by permitting both the Attorney General and the Corporation Counsel of any political subdivision that imposes a tax on cigarettes to bring actions to recover civil penalties for statutory violations.

Prior legislative history

2011-12- A.1589- passed Assembly/S.2170- Referred to Health 2009-10- A.1833- passed Assembly/S.2324- Referred to Health 2008: A.7326- Passed Assembly/S.2001 - Referred to Health 2006: A.1128-B - Passed Assembly 2005: A.1128 - Codes 2004: A.11174 - Codes

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.