What's happening
This bill bans advertisements for electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine, and hookah tobacco within 500 feet of schools or parks.
Why it matters
Targets youth exposure. By restricting ads for e-cigarettes, liquid nicotine, and hookah tobacco near schools and parks, the bill aims to reduce the visibility of these products to children and teenagers, a group particularly susceptible to marketing's influence on experimentation and use.
Creates clear legal definitions. The bill carefully defines "electronic cigarette," "liquid nicotine," and "hookah tobacco," ensuring that a wide range of products—including refill cartridges and shisha—are covered, closing potential loopholes for advertisers.
Establishes enforceable boundaries and penalties. The law lays out precise geographic and physical limits (within 500 feet, including certain building interiors) and sets specific civil fines for violations, creating a concrete mechanism for local authorities to enforce these protections.
Acknowledges limited exceptions for businesses. The bill allows certain indoor advertisements only if they are not visible from outside (e.g., facing inward or perpendicular to windows/doors), balancing public health goals with retailers’ rights to communicate with adult customers inside their premises.
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Who cares
Vape shops and hookah tobacco retailers
The bill would bar outdoor ads within 500 feet of schools or parks and restrict indoor ads within five feet of exterior windows or public doors, with exceptions for specified inward-facing or perpendicular placements.
Electronic cigarette, liquid nicotine and hookah tobacco advertisers
Businesses placing or arranging prohibited ads would face civil fines of up to $500 for a first violation and $1,000 for subsequent violations.
Students and park users
The bill would limit advertising for electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine and hookah tobacco near the schools and parks they use.
Headline styles
Ban Tobacco Ads Near Schools
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 7
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to consumer protection
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.548
- Referred to consumer protection
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Ban Tobacco Ads Near Schools
In Assembly Committee · Consumer Affairs And Protection · Sponsor Aileen Gunther
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3406
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 6, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KAPLAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting advertisements for electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine and hookah tobacco within five hundred feet of a school or park
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 396-aaa to read as follows:
§ 396-aaa. Prohibition of electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine or hookah tobacco advertisements near schools and parks. 1. For purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:
a. "electronic cigarette" shall mean an electronic device that delivers vapor which is inhaled by an individual user, and shall include any refill cartridge and any other component of such a device;
b. "liquid nicotine" shall mean a liquid composed of nicotine and other chemicals and which is sold as a product that may be used in an electronic cigarette; and
c. "hookah tobacco" shall mean any product made primarily of tobacco or other leaf, or any combination thereof, smoked or intended to be smoked in a hookah or water pipe, including Shisha.
2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person, corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited partnership, association or any other business entity shall advertise or provide in any way for the advertisement of electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine or hookah tobacco in any outdoor area within five hundred feet of any park or school, or within the interior of any building or structure which is within five hundred feet of any park or school when such advertisement is within five feet of any exterior window or any door which is used for entry or egress to the building or structure by the public; except that such advertisement maybe placed or maintained in the interior of any such
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09592-01-9
S. 3406 2
premises where it is parallel to such windows or entryways and faces inward or are affixed to a wall panel or similar fixture that is perpendicular to such window or entryway.
3. Any person corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited partnership, association or any other business entity in violation of this section shall be subject to a civil fine of not more than five hundred dollars for a first violation and not more than one thousand dollars for a second or subsequent violation.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting advertisements for electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine and hookah tobacco within five hundred feet of a school or park
Purpose
To prohibit advertisements for electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine and hookah tobacco within five hundred feet of a school or park.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends the general business law by adding a new section 396-aaa as described in the bill. Relating to the definition of "elec- tronic cigarette", "liquid nicotine", "hookah tobacco", and the purposes of their advertising.
Section 2 amends the general business law by prohibiting businesses by advertising electronic cigarettes, liquid nicotine or hookah tobacco within five hundred feet of a school or park, or in the interior of any building within five hundred feet of a school or park which is within five feet of any exterior window or door which is used as an entry or egress to the building or structure by the public.
Justification
Although the use of electronic cigarettes and liquid nicotine have been advertised as a safe nicotine cessation product for adult smokers, communities across New York State have seen a rise in electronic ciga- rette use in those underage. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, 4.9% of middle schoolers had reported using an electronic cigarette in the last 30 days, with 20.8% of high schoolers responding the same. Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers report that they began using nicotine before reaching the age of 18.
The rate in which electronic cigarette use in teenagers under the age of 18 continues to rise. From 2017 to 2018, use of these products increased 78 percent in high school students, and 48 percent amongst middle school students, according to a study from the FDA. These products contain liquid nicotine, which is unregulated by the FDA, and has been shown to lead to greater nicotine dependence, along with significant respiratory issues such as "popcorn lung" caused by diacetyl, a common ingredient in liquid nicotine products.
Despite current bans on advertising for conventional cigarettes, elec- tronic cigarette ads can be found in retail stores, television, maga- zines, internet sources, and social media. The electronic cigarette industry, largely owned by large tobacco companies, spend $125 million a year advertising their products. A 2018 CDC study shows that middle and high school students' exposure to e cigarette advertising increased from 68.9% (18.3 million) to 78.2% (20.5 million). As schools across the state have expressed significant concern with nicotine use and depend- ence from students, the prohibition on advertising for these products near schools and parks will aid in decreasing influence that tobacco and electronic cigarette manufacturers have on minors.
Legislative history
None.
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.