Report Title:

Cigarettes Less Than 25 Millimeters in Circumference

 

Description:

Prohibits sale, distribution of cigarettes with a circumference of less than 25 millimeters.  Imposed fines to be deposited into the State Fire Council Special Fund to fund enforcement.  (HB327 HD1)

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

327

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO CIGARETTES.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that cigarette sales in the United States have been falling since 1998.  To hold market share, tobacco companies have launched an array of smoking products.  One new product offers cigarettes packaged in a box approximately the size of a single lipstick package that contain super slim or ultra slim cigarettes‑‑cigarettes having a reduced circumference smaller than that of a standard cigarette circumference of twenty-five millimeters.  These products were initially marketed in the United States on October 9, 2008, by Philip Morris USA.

     According to the American Legacy Foundation, Virginia Slims Super Slims Lights and Super Slims Ultra Lights, which are packaged in pink and teal-colored lipstick-sized packs of twenty cigarettes, are clearly designed to appeal to teenage girls.  The American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and two dozen other health and women's groups have protested the pink and teal purse packs and demanded their removal from shelves, saying their introduction and marketing demonstrate that Philip Morris USA shows contempt for women and their health by putting a pink gloss on a product that causes lung cancer and heart disease, two of the leading killers of women.

     The purpose of this Act is to prohibit the sale or distribution in Hawaii of cigarettes having a circumference of less than twenty-five millimeters.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 132, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§132-      State fire council special fund.  (a)  There is established within the state treasury a special fund to be known as the state fire council special fund to be administered and expended by the department of labor and industrial relations.

     (b)  The moneys in the special fund shall be used by the state fire council to fund enforcement measures related to the State's ban on the sale or distribution of cigarettes having a circumference of less than twenty-five millimeters, or cigarette package containing fewer than twenty cigarettes pursuant to section 245-    .

     (c)  Fees remitted pursuant to section 245-    , interest and investment earnings attributable to the moneys in the special fund, legislative appropriations, and grants, donations, and contributions from private or public sources for the purposes of the fund, shall be deposited into the special fund.

     (d)  The department of labor and industrial relations shall submit an annual report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session that outlines the receipts of, and expenditures from, the special fund."

     SECTION 3.  Chapter 245, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§245‑      Cigarettes with a circumference of less than twenty-five millimeters; sale or distribution prohibited; fines.  (a)  No cigarette having a circumference of less than twenty-five millimeters shall be sold or distributed within the state or imported into the state.

     (b)  The state fire council shall enforce this section and:

     (1)  May examine the books, papers, invoices, and other records of any person in possession, control, or occupancy of any premises where cigarettes are placed, stored, sold or offered for sale, as well as the stock of cigarettes on the premises to enforce the provisions of this section, through its duly authorized representatives, or the attorney general and its duly authorized representatives, or other law enforcement personnel.  Every person in the possession, control, or occupancy of any premises where cigarettes are placed, sold or offered for sale, shall give the state fire council, the attorney general, their duly authorized representatives, and other law enforcement personnel, the means, facilities, and opportunity for the examinations authorized by this paragraph; and

     (2)  May adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.

     (c)  Any person violating this section shall be subject to a fine of not more than $        .  A second or subsequent violation shall be subject to a fine of not more than $       .

     (d)  Fines collected pursuant to subsection (b) shall be used to fund the state fire council's enforcement of this section and deposited into the state fire council special fund established under section 132-    ."

     SECTION 4.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

     SECTION 5.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.