REPORT TITLE:
Sample Tobacco


DESCRIPTION:
Prohibits the distribution of sample tobacco products and
promotional materials in any public street, sidewalk, or park,
or within 1000 feet of any school. (SD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        294
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND
   TOBACCO PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that as tobacco companies
 
 2 compete for shares of a shrinking domestic market, advertisements
 
 3 and promotions of cigarette and tobacco products have
 
 4 intensified, with the tobacco industry spending in excess of six
 
 5 billion dollars on advertisements and promotions.  The
 
 6 distribution of brand-name promotional items is a major component
 
 7 of the tobacco industry's marketing strategy.   The legislature
 
 8 further finds that there is a direct correlation between tobacco
 
 9 advertising and under-age smoking.  Studies show that tobacco
 
10 advertising promotes smoking by using images and messages that
 
11 appeal to our children, and that they are particularly
 
12 susceptible to these images and messages.  In addition, minors
 
13 have greater recall for and are more influenced by tobacco
 
14 advertising than the adult population. 
 
15      The legislature recognizes that First Amendment rights may
 
16 be implicated by the restrictions on the distribution of
 
17 cigarette or tobacco promotional materials.  However, the
 
18 legislature believes that the State has a compelling interest in
 
19 reducing illegal sales of tobacco products to minors. 
 

 
Page 2                                                     294
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 2
                                                        

 
 1      First, the State has a compelling interest in preventing the
 
 2 tens of thousands of minors from being seduced into experimenting
 
 3 with tobacco products that all too often leads to a lifetime of
 
 4 addiction.  According to the Food and Drug Administration,
 
 5 approximately 3,000 children become regular smokers every day.
 
 6 Over eighty per cent of adult smokers started when they were
 
 7 children or adolescents.  Virtually no one first becomes a
 
 8 tobacco user after the age of twenty-one.
 
 9      Second, reducing the enormous cost of providing health care
 
10 to future generations of smokers is a second compelling
 
11 government interest in supporting restrictions on tobacco
 
12 advertising and promotions.
 
13      The legislature believes that more aggressive measures are
 
14 needed to counteract the social forces that continue to induce
 
15 Hawaii's young people to use tobacco products.  In addition, the
 
16 legislature believes that the First Amendment does not protect
 
17 commercial speech that proposes an illegal transaction.  Most
 
18 smokers are initiated into tobacco use as children, develop their
 
19 tobacco habits as children, and become addicted as children, even
 
20 though it is illegal to sell tobacco products to minors.  Because
 
21 promotional items are all too often used to deliver a selling
 
22 message to children, and because there is no way to limit the
 
23 distribution of these products to adults, such products should be
 
24 restricted without offending the First Amendment.
 

 
Page 3                                                     294
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 2
                                                        

 
 1      Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to prohibit the
 
 2 distribution of:
 
 3      (1)  Sample tobacco products and tobacco promotional
 
 4           materials within a buffer zone around schools attended
 
 5           by minors; and
 
 6      (2)  Sample tobacco products in or on any public street,
 
 7           sidewalk, or park.
 
 8      SECTION 2.  Chapter 328K, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated
 
10 and to read as follows:
 
11      "§328K-    Distribution of sample tobacco products and
 
12 tobacco promotional materials.  (a)  It is unlawful for any
 
13 person to distribute samples of tobacco products in or on any
 
14 public street, sidewalk, or park, or within one thousand feet of
 
15 any elementary, middle or intermediate, or high school.
 
16      (b)  It is unlawful for any person to distribute tobacco
 
17 promotional materials within one thousand feet of any elementary,
 
18 middle or intermediate, or high school.
 
19      (c)  This section shall not apply:
 
20      (1)  Within the boundaries of private commercial
 
21           establishments, such as stores and restaurants, where
 
22           tobacco products are sold, as long as such distribution
 

 
 
 
Page 4                                                     294
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
                                                        S.D. 2
                                                        

 
 1           is not visible to the public from outside the
 
 2           establishment; or
 
 3      (2)  To commercial establishments where access to the
 
 4           premises by persons under eighteen years of age is
 
 5           prohibited by law.
 
 6      (d)  As used in this section, "to distribute" means to pass
 
 7 out to members of the general public free of charge for the
 
 8 purpose of promoting a product.
 
 9      §328K-    Penalty.  Any person convicted of violating any
 
10 provision of section 328K-   shall be punished by a fine not
 
11 exceeding $1,000."
 
12      SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
13      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.