Davis Signs Tobacco-Related Legislation
Gov. Gray Davis (D) this week signed several tobacco-related measures into law. Those bills include:
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AB 1830: Sponsored by Assembly member Dario Frommer (D-Los Feliz), the bill prohibits selling tobacco products through the mail or via any postal or package delivery service to children under age 18. In addition, the bill requires sellers of tobacco products to verify buyers' ages and to deliver tobacco products only to buyers' verified billing addresses. Buyers also must purchase at least two cartons of cigarettes if ordering through the mail (Office of the Governor release, 9/18).
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AB 2127: Sponsored by Assembly member Barbara Matthews (D-Tracy), the bill allows state residents to contribute to a fund for asthma and lung disease research through their tax return. The bill creates the Asthma and Lung Disease Research Fund, which will allocate money to the Department of Health Services to provide grants to the American Lung Association of California (Office of the Governor release, 9/18).
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AB 2205: Sponsored by Assembly member Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), the bill raises the fine for possessing or selling untaxed cigarettes from $100 to $200 per carton and allocates the additional revenue to the Unlawful Sales Reduction Fund. The fund is used to pay for "multiagency task forces" fighting against black market tobacco activities.
- SB 1766: Sponsored by Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), the bill requires all cigarette sales to be vendor-assisted and face-to-face unless applicable state taxes have already been paid or the seller writes on the cigarettes an "easily legible notice" that the buyer must pay all state taxes. The bill also allows the state to prosecute and collect fees and costs from cigarette sellers who do not comply with the federal Jenkins Act (Office of the Governor release, 9/18). Under the Jenkins Act, companies that ship tobacco products across state lines are required to report the names and addresses of individual buyers (California Healthline, 9/24/01).
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