BILL NUMBER: AB 1301	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hill

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act relating to tobacco.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1301, as introduced, Hill. Retail tobacco sales: STAKE Act.
   Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act, or
STAKE Act, establishes various requirements for retailers relating to
tobacco sales to minors.
   This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature regarding
the amendment of the STAKE Act to reduce the sale of tobacco to
minors.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) According to the American Cancer Society, almost 90 percent of
adults who are regular smokers started at or before age 19.
   (b) A 2009 survey from the United States Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found that nearly one-half of high school
students had tried cigarette smoking and more than one out of four
high school students were current tobacco users.
   (c) Smoking-related diseases remain the leading cause of
preventable death in the United States, claiming the lives of 438,000
Americans annually.
   (d) According to the State Department of Public Health's
California Tobacco Control Program survey, 74 percent of youth access
enforcement agencies reported issuing warnings to merchants selling
tobacco products to minors in 2006.
   (e) The California Tobacco Control Program survey also found that
law enforcement agencies continued to rank the suspension or
revocation of licenses and civil and criminal penalties for owners
and clerks, as effective strategies to reduce youth access to
tobacco.
   (f) California's Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act which
grants the state authority to suspend and revoke licenses from
stores that illegally sell tobacco to minors has not been utilized
because of a provision that prevents this grant from taking effect.
   (g) As a result, local cities and counties have taken it upon
themselves to adopt local tobacco retailer licensing ordinances in
order to reduce illegal sales of tobacco products to minors.
   (h) According to the American Lung Association's Center for
Tobacco Organizing and Policy 2009 report, rates of illegal tobacco
sales to minors have decreased, often significantly, in almost every
California community that has passed strong tobacco retailer
licensing ordinances.
   (i) Since only 60 communities in California have adopted retailer
licensing ordinances, it's imperative for the state to fully
implement the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act to reduce
the sale of tobacco products to minors in communities throughout
California.
  SEC. 2.  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
that would amend the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act
(Division 8.5 (commencing with Section 229550) of the Business and
Professions Code) to reduce the sale of tobacco to minors.