2018 -- H 7647

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LC004315

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - CHILDREN

     Introduced By: Representatives Tanzi, Fogarty, Handy, Nunes, and Ranglin-Vassell

     Date Introduced: February 15, 2018

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 11-9-13, 11-9-13.1, 11-9-13.3, 11-9-13.4, 11-9-13.5, 11-9-13.6,

11-9-13.7, 11-9-13.8, 11-9-13.10, 11-9-13.11, and 11-9-13.13 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-

9 entitled "Children" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     11-9-13. Purchase, sale or delivery of tobacco products to persons under eighteen --

Posting notice of law. Sale or delivery of tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery

systems to persons under twenty-one -- Posting notice of law.

     No person under eighteen (18) years of age shall purchase, nor shall any person sell, give,

or deliver to any person under eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years of age, any tobacco product or

electronic nicotine-delivery system as defined in § 11-9-13.4. in the form of cigarettes, bidi

cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, flavored cigars known as "blunts," unflavored "blunts," flavored

and unflavored blunt wraps, cigarette rolling papers of any size or composition, cigarillos and

tiparillos, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, electronic nicotine-delivery systems, or snuff. Any

person, firm, or corporation that owns, manages, or operates a place of business in which tobacco

products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems are sold, including sales through cigarette

vending machines, shall post notice of this law conspicuously in the place of business in letters at

least three-eighths of an inch (3/8") high.

     11-9-13.1. Cigarette and tobacco vending machines.

     (a) No cigarettes, nor any other tobacco product, nor electronic nicotine-delivery system

product shall be sold from any device or vending machine that is in an any area of a business not

continuously supervised and in direct line of sight of an authorized person employed by the

person, firm, or corporation that owns the business occupying the premises in which the device or

vending machine is located, nor shall any tobacco product, nor electronic nicotine-delivery

system product be sold from any device or vending machine that is in an area supervised by such

an authorized person unless the device or vending machine is equipped with an electronic locking

device that will not allow the device or vending machine to dispense a pack of cigarettes, or any

other tobacco product, or electronic nicotine-delivery system product unless it is electronically

unlocked from a secured position inaccessible to the public and under the supervision of an

authorized person employed by the person, firm, or corporation that owns the business occupying

the premises in which the device or vending machine is located. "Direct line of sight" means that

the vending machine and the purchaser of cigarettes or electronic nicotine-delivery system

product must be visible to the authorized person pressing the unlock button while the unlock

button is being activated. Provided, a locking device shall not be required in an establishment

licensed to sell alcoholic beverages that limits access to that persons over under the age of

twenty-one (21) years are allowed to enter.

     (b) No cigarettes, nor any other tobacco product, nor electronic nicotine-delivery system

product shall be sold from any device or vending machine from which non-tobacco products are

sold.

     (c) No cigarettes shall be sold in packs that contain less than twenty (20) cigarettes.

     (d) Any person, firm, or corporation who or that owns a business occupying the premises

in which a device or vending machine that dispenses cigarettes, or any other tobacco product or

electronic nicotine-delivery system product is located who or that shall violate any of the

provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall for the first offense be subject to a fine

of seventy-five dollars ($75.00), for the second offense, be subject to a fine of one hundred fifty

dollars ($150), and for the third and any subsequent offense, be subject to a fine of five hundred

dollars ($500); provided, that in the event that there are no offenses in three (3) successive years

from the date of the last offense, then the next offense shall be treated as the first offense.

     (e) Any person, firm, or corporation who or that shall violate subsection (c) of this

section shall, for the first offense, be subject to a fine of seventy-five dollars ($75.00), for the

second offense, be subject to a fine of one hundred fifty dollars ($150), and for the third and any

subsequent offense, be subject to a fine of five hundred dollars ($500); provided, that in the event

that there are no offenses in three (3) successive years from the date of the last offense, then the

next offense shall be treated as the first offense.

     (f) One-half (1/2) of all the fines collected pursuant to this section shall be transferred to

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the municipalities in which the citations originated. One-half (1/2) of all the fines collected

pursuant to this section shall be transferred to the general fund.

     (g) Severability. If any provision of this section or the application of it to any person or

circumstance is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this

section, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the

provisions of this section are declared to be severable.

     11-9-13.3. Legislative intent -- Purpose.

     The use of tobacco products and electronic nicotine-delivery systems by Rhode Island

children and youth is a health and substance abuse problem of the utmost severity. The legislature

finds that tobacco product usage by children in Rhode Island is rampant and increasing with over

thirty percent (30%) of high school students smoking. The present law prohibiting the sale of

tobacco to children is being ignored by many retailers. Rhode Island tobacco retailers illegally

sell four million eight hundred thousand (4,800,000) packs, over eleven million dollars

($11,000,000) in tobacco product sales, to children annually. Tobacco industry advertising targets

children as the replacement smokers for the one thousand one hundred forty-five (1,145) adults

who die daily from tobacco product usage. Approximately seventy percent (70%) of the Rhode

Island high school seniors who are smoking today will be the addicted adult smokers of

tomorrow. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking-

related direct medical costs in Rhode Island in 1990 climbed to one hundred eighty-six million

dollars ($186,000,000). This is an ongoing, escalating financial burden borne by every business,

large and small, and every person, smoker and nonsmoker, in Rhode Island. This is a health and

economic drain created by each new generation of children who begin using tobacco products and

become addicted to nicotine. It is the intent of this legislation to preserve and protect the health of

children by: (1) stopping the illegal sale of tobacco to children, and (2) by severely punishing

those who disregard the laws relating to the illegal sale of tobacco products to children is a

serious health and addiction problem. Cigarette use has greatly declined among Rhode Island

youth, to four and eight-tenths percent (4.8%), yet, even at this low rate, every year, three

hundred (300) children under the age of eighteen (18) in Rhode Island become daily smokers.

There are sixteen thousand (16,000) children in Rhode Island today who will ultimately die

prematurely from smoking. Rhode Island's annual health care costs due to smoking are six

hundred forty million dollars ($640,000,000). As the National Youth Tobacco Survey reports, in

2015, the overall use of tobacco among youth rose, exposing dangerous new trends. Clever

marketing by the tobacco industry, encouraging the use of small cigars, hookahs, e-cigarettes, and

flavored vaping products, has put millions of young people at risk of lifelong lethal nicotine

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addiction. In Rhode Island, nineteen and three-tenths percent (19.3%) of high school students use

e-cigarettes, and eleven and seven-tenths percent (11.7%) of male high school students smoke

cigars.

     Data shows that about ninety-five percent (95%) of adult smokers began smoking before

they turned age twenty-one (21). In March of 2015, the Institute of Medicine, on behalf of the

Food and Drug Administration (FDA), released a seminal report detailing the potential public

health benefits of raising the national legal age of tobacco sale from age eighteen (18) to age

twenty-one (21). Among the findings was a twenty-five percent (25%) drop in the rate of

smoking initiation by fifteen (15) to seventeen (17) year olds, a twelve percent (12%) drop in

overall smoking rates over time, and sixteen thousand (16,000) cases of preterm birth and low

birth weight babies averted in the first five (5) years of the policy, resulting in an impact that

would be recognized immediately. A conservative estimate is that if the tobacco sale age of

twenty-one (21) were adopted throughout the United States now, it would prevent four million

two hundred thousand (4,200,000) years of lives lost to smoking for those born in the years 2000-

2019. In July 2015, the CDC reported that seventy-five percent (75%) of adults favored raising

the tobacco sale age to twenty-one (21) years.

     11-9-13.4. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter:

     (1) "Bidi cigarette" means any product that (i) contains tobacco that is wrapped in

temburni or tender leaf, or that is wrapped in any other material identified by rules of the

Department of Health that is similar in appearance or characteristics to the temburni or tender

leaf, and (ii) does not contain a smoke filtering device.

     (2) "Court" means any appropriate district court of the state of Rhode Island.

     (3) "Dealer" is synonymous with the term "retail tobacco products dealer" or "electronic

nicotine-delivery system dealer".

     (4) "Department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals "

means the state of Rhode Island behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals

department, its employees, agents or assigns.

     (5) "Department of taxation" means the state of Rhode Island taxation division, its

employees, agents, or assigns.

     (6) "License" is synonymous with the term "retail tobacco products dealer license" or

"electronic nicotine-delivery system license."

     (7) "License holder" is synonymous with the term "retail tobacco products dealer" or

"electronic nicotine-delivery system license."

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     (8) "Person" means any individual person, firm, association, or corporation licensed as a

retail dealer to sell tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems within the state.

     (9) "Retail tobacco products dealer" means the holder of a license to sell tobacco products

at retail.

     (10) "Retail tobacco products dealer license" means a license to sell tobacco products at

retail as issued by the department of taxation.

     (11) "Spitting tobacco" also means snuff, powdered tobacco, chewing tobacco, dipping

tobacco, pouch tobacco, or smokeless tobacco.

     (12) "Tobacco product(s)" means any product containing tobacco that is intended for

human consumption, including bidi cigarettes, as defined in subdivision (1) of this section, that

can be used for, but whose use is not limited to, smoking, sniffing, chewing, or spitting of the

product heating, absorbing, dissolving, inhaling, snorting or ingesting by any other means,

including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco and

snuff. "Tobacco product" does not include drugs, devices, or combination products authorized for

sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as those terms are defined in the Federal Food,

Drug and Cosmetic Act.

     (13) "Underage individual" or "underage individuals" means any child person under the

age of eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years of age.

     (14) "Little cigars" means and includes any roll, made wholly or in part of tobacco,

irrespective of size or shape, and irrespective of whether the tobacco is flavored, adulterated, or

mixed with any other ingredient, where such roll has a wrapper or cover made of tobacco

wrapped in leaf tobacco or any substance containing tobacco paper or any other material, except

where such wrapper is wholly or in greater part made of tobacco and such roll weighs over three

(3) four (4) pounds per thousand (1,000).

     (15) "Electronic nicotine-delivery system systems" means an electronic device that may

be used to simulate smoking in the delivery of nicotine or other substance to a person inhaling

from the device, and includes, but is not limited to, an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar,

electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or electronic hookah and any related device and any cartridge

or other component of such device.

     (16) "Electronic nicotine-delivery system license" means a license to sell electronic

nicotine-delivery systems at retail as issued by the department of health.

     (17) "Electronic nicotine-delivery system dealer" means the holder of a license to sell

electronic nicotine-delivery systems at retail.

     11-9-13.5. Responsibility for tobacco or health issues.

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     The Rhode Island department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and

hospitals shall develop, monitor and aggressively enforce health rules and regulations pertaining

to stopping the illegal sale of tobacco products and electronic nicotine-delivery systems to

children to underage individuals.

     11-9-13.6. Duties of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental

disabilities and hospitals.

     The department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals shall:

     (1) Coordinate and promote the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter and serve as

the primary liaison from this department to other state or local agencies, departments, or divisions

on issues pertaining to stopping children's underage individuals' access to tobacco products and

electronic nicotine-delivery system systems dealers.

     (2) Provide retail tobacco products dealers and electronic nicotine-delivery system

dealers signs concerning the prohibition of sales to children under eighteen (18) persons under

twenty-one (21) years of age. The signs, conforming to the requirements of this chapter, shall be

sold at cost. This sign, or an exact duplicate of it made privately, shall be displayed in all

locations where tobacco products and/or electronic nicotine-delivery systems are sold.

     (3) Investigate concurrently with other state and local officials violations of this chapter.

     (4) (i) Utilize unannounced statewide compliance checks of tobacco product sales and/or

electronic nicotine-delivery system sales including retail tobacco and/or electronic nicotine-

delivery system over-the-counter sales, mail-order sales initiated via mail, facsimile, telephone or

internet ordering or other types of electronic communications, and tobacco and/or electronic

nicotine-delivery systems vending machine sales as part of investigating compliance with the

provisions of this chapter. Underage individuals, acting as agents for the department of behavioral

healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals and with the written permission of a parent or

guardian for persons under age eighteen (18), may purchase, with impunity from prosecution,

tobacco products and electronic nicotine-delivery system for the purposes of law enforcement or

government research involving monitoring compliance with this chapter, provided that the

underage individuals are supervised by an adult law enforcement official. Any individual

participating in an unannounced compliance check of over-the-counter or vending machine sales,

must state his or her accurate age if asked by the sales representative of the retail establishment

being checked.

     (ii) In fulfilling the requirement of unannounced statewide compliance checks, the

department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals shall maintain

complete records of the unannounced compliance checks, detailing, at least, the date of the

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compliance check; the name and address of the retail establishment checked or the mail order

company; the results of the compliance check (sale/no sale); whether the sale was made as an

over-the-counter sale, a mail-order purchase or a tobacco and/or or electronic nicotine-delivery

systems vending machine sale; and if a citation was issued for any violation found. The records

shall be subject to public disclosure. Further, the department of behavioral healthcare,

developmental disabilities and hospitals shall report to the owner of each retail establishment

checked or mail-order company the results of any compliance check (sale/no sale) whether the

sale was made as an over-the-counter sale, a mail-order purchase, or a tobacco and/or electronic

nicotine-delivery systems vending machine sale, and if a citation was issued for any violation

found.

     (5) Seek enforcement, concurrently with other state and local officials, of the penalties as

detailed in this chapter.

     (6) Develop and disseminate community health education information and materials

relating to this chapter.

     11-9-13.7. Signs concerning sales to individuals under age eighteen (18). Signs

concerning sales to individuals under age twenty-one (21).

     Signs provided by the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities

and hospitals, or an exact duplicate of it made privately, shall:

     (1) Contain in red bold lettering a minimum of three-eighths (3/8") inch high on a white

background the following wording in both English and Spanish:

THE SALE OF CIGARETTES,

TOBACCO AND ELECTRONIC NICOTINE-DELIVERY SYSTEM

PRODUCTS

TO PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 18

IS AGAINST RHODE ISLAND LAW

(§ 11-9-13.8(1), Rhode Island Statutes)

PHOTO ID FOR PROOF OF AGE IS

REQUIRED FOR PURCHASE.

     THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND ELECTRONIC NICOTINE-DELIVERY

SYSTEMS TO PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 21 IS AGAINST RHODE ISLAND LAW (§

11-9-13.8(1), R.I.G.L.) PHOTO ID FOR PROOF OF AGE IS REQUIRED FOR PURCHASE.

     (2) Contain the phone number at the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental

disabilities and hospitals, where violations of §§ 11-9-13.2 -- 11-9-13.19 can be reported, in

addition to any other information required by the department of behavioral healthcare,

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developmental disabilities and hospitals.

     (3) Be displayed prominently for public view, wherever tobacco products or electronic

nicotine-delivery systems are sold at each cash register, each tobacco product and/or electronic

nicotine-delivery systems vending machine, or any other place from which tobacco products or

electronic nicotine-delivery systems are sold. The signs shall be electronically available in both

English and Spanish online at the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities

and hospitals' website.

     11-9-13.8. Prohibitions applicable to license holders and their employees and agents.

     A person holding a license issued under chapter 20 of title 44 and/or § 23-1-56, or an

employee or agent of that person, is prohibited from selling, distributing, or delivering a tobacco

product and/or electronic nicotine-delivery system product:

     (1) To any individual who is under eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years of age; or

     (2) In any form other than an original, factory-wrapped package; or

     (3) As a single-cigarette sale (§ 44-20-31) or as a sale of cigarettes by the individual piece

known as "loosies."

     11-9-13.10. Prohibition on the distribution of free tobacco products. [Effective

January 1, 2018.]. Prohibition on the distribution of free tobacco products and electronic

nicotine-delivery systems. [Effective January 1, 2018.].

     The distribution of free tobacco products and electronic nicotine-delivery systems or

coupons or vouchers redeemable for free tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery system

systems products to any person under eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years of age shall be

prohibited. Further, the distribution of free tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery

systems or coupons or vouchers redeemable for free tobacco products or electronic nicotine-

delivery systems products shall be prohibited, regardless of the age of the person to whom the

products, coupons, or vouchers are distributed, within five hundred feet (500') of any school. The

attorney general, or any local or state of Rhode Island police department, or their officers or

agents, shall bring an action for any violation of this section. Every separate, free tobacco product

or electronic nicotine-delivery system or coupon or voucher redeemable for a free tobacco or

electronic nicotine-delivery system or product in violation of this section shall constitute a

separate offense subject to a fine of five hundred dollars ($500). The penalty shall be assessed

against the business or individual responsible for initiating the Rhode Island distribution of the

free tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems or coupons or vouchers redeemable

for free tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems.

     11-9-13.11. Prohibition on the sale or distribution of tobacco products through the

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mail conveyance of tobacco products through the mail to children under eighteen (18) --

Proof of age of purchaser required -- General rule. Prohibition on the sale or distribution of

tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems through the mail to persons under

twenty-one (21) -- Proof of age of purchaser required -- General rule.

     (a) The distribution, or sale or conveyance of tobacco products to children under the age

of eighteen (18) or electronic nicotine-delivery systems by the seller of the products to persons

under the age of twenty-one (21) via the United States Postal Service, or by any other public or

private postal or package delivery service, shall be prohibited.

     (b) Any person selling or distributing tobacco products in the form of cigars, pipe

tobacco, chewing tobacco, or snuff or electronic nicotine-delivery systems directly to a consumer

via the United States Postal Service, or by any other public or private postal or package delivery

service, including orders placed by mail, telephone, facsimile, or internet, shall: (1) before

distributing or selling the tobacco product or electronic nicotine-delivery system through any of

these means, receive both a copy of a valid form of government identification showing date of

birth to verify the purchaser is age eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years or over and an attestation

from the purchaser certifying that the information on the government identification truly and

correctly identifies the purchaser and the purchaser's current address, and (2) deliver the tobacco

product or electronic nicotine-delivery system to the address of the purchaser given on the valid

form of government identification and by a postal or package delivery service method that either

limits delivery to that purchaser and requires the purchaser to sign personally to receive the

delivery or requires a signature of an adult a person age twenty-one (21) or over at the purchaser's

address to deliver the package.

     (c) The attorney general shall bring an action for any violation of this chapter. Any

distribution, or sale or conveyance of a tobacco product or electronic nicotine-delivery system to

a child person under eighteen (18) twenty-one (21) years of age via the United States Postal

Service, or by any other public or private postal or package delivery service, shall be subject to an

action against the distributor, or seller or conveyor by the attorney general of the state of Rhode

Island. A minimum fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be assessed against any

distributor, or seller or conveyor convicted of distributing, or selling or conveying tobacco

products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems via the United States postal service, or by any

other public or private postal or package delivery service, for each delivery, or sale or conveyance

of a tobacco product or electronic nicotine-delivery system to a child person under eighteen (18)

twenty-one (21) years of age.

     (d) For the purpose of this section, "distribution," "distributing," "selling" and "sale" do

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not include the acts of the United States Postal Service or other common carrier when engaged in

the business of transporting and delivering packages for others or the acts of a person, whether

compensated or not, who transports or delivers a package for another person without any reason

to know of the package's contents.

     (e) Any delivery sale of cigarettes shall be made pursuant to the provisions of chapter

20.1 of title 44. The provisions of this section shall apply to each tobacco product listed in

subsection (b) herein or electronic nicotine-delivery system as defined in § 11-9-13.4, but shall

not apply to any delivery sale of cigarettes.

     11-9-13.13. Nature and size of penalties. [Effective January 1, 2018.].

     (a) Any person or individual license holder who violates a requirement of § 11-9-13.6(2)

and § 11-9-13.7, display of specific signage, shall be subject to a fine in court of not less than

thirty-five dollars ($35.00), nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), per civil violation.

     (b) The license holder is responsible for all violations of this section that occur at the

location for which the license is issued. Any license holder who or that violates the prohibition of

§ 11-9-13.8(1) and/or (2) or § 11-9-13.20 shall be subject to civil fines as follows:

     (1) A fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) for the first violation within any thirty-six-

month (36) period;

     (2) A fine of five hundred dollars ($500) for the second violation within any thirty-six-

month (36) period;

     (3) A fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000) and a fourteen-day (14) suspension of the

license to sell tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems for the third violation

within any thirty-six-month (36) period;

     (4) A fine of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) and a ninety-day (90)

suspension of the license to sell tobacco products or electronic nicotine-delivery systems for each

violation in excess of three (3).

     (c) Any person who or that violates a prohibition of § 11-9-13.8(3), sale of single

cigarettes; § 11-9-13.8(2), regarding factory-wrapped packs; shall be subject to a penalty of five

hundred dollars ($500) for each violation.

     (d) The department of taxation and/or the department of health shall not issue a license to

any individual, business, firm, association, or corporation, the license of which has been revoked

or suspended; to any corporation, an officer of which has had his or her license revoked or

suspended; or to any individual who is, or has been, an officer of a corporation the license of

which has been revoked or suspended so long as such revocations or suspensions are in effect.

     (e) The court shall may suspend the imposition of a license suspension of the license

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secured from the Rhode Island tax administrator or department of health for violation of

subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this section if the court finds that the license holder has taken

measures to prevent the sale of tobacco products and/or electronic nicotine-delivery systems to

minors underage individuals and the license holder can demonstrate to the court that those

measures have been taken and that employees have received training. No person shall sell

tobacco products and/or electronic nicotine-delivery system systems products at retail without

first being trained in the legal sale of tobacco products and/or electronic nicotine-delivery system

systems products. Training shall teach employees what constitutes a tobacco product and/or

electronic nicotine-delivery system product; legal age of purchase and sale; acceptable

identification; how to refuse a direct sale to a minor an underage individual or secondary sale to

an adult a person age twenty-one (21) or over; and all applicable laws on tobacco sales and

distribution. Dealers shall maintain records indicating that the provisions of this section were

reviewed with all employees who conduct, or will conduct, tobacco product and/or electronic

nicotine-delivery systems sales. Each employee who sells or will sell tobacco products and/or

electronic nicotine-delivery system systems products shall sign an acknowledgement form

attesting that the provisions of this section were reviewed with him or her. Each form shall be

maintained by the retailer for as long as the employee is so employed and for no less than one

year after termination of employment. The measures to prevent the sale of tobacco products

and/or electronic nicotine-delivery systems to minors underage individuals shall be defined by the

department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals in rules and

regulations.

     SECTION 2. Section 11-9-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-9 entitled "Children" is

hereby repealed.

     11-9-14. Use of tobacco by minors.

     No person under eighteen (18) years of age shall use or possess, when such possession is

clearly visible, tobacco in any public street, place, or resort, any tobacco and/or electronic

nicotine delivery system in any form whatsoever. Any person under eighteen (18) years of age

violating the provisions of this section shall be required to perform up to thirty (30) hours of

community service or shall be required to enter into a tobacco treatment program, approved by

any local substance abuse prevention task force, at the option of a minor charged with a violation

of this section.

     SECTION 3. Sections 44-20.1-1, 44-20.1-3 and 44-20.1-5 of the General Laws in

Chapter 44-20.1 entitled "Delivery Sales of Cigarettes" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     44-20.1-1. Definitions.

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     For purposes of this chapter:

     (1) "Administrator" means the tax administrator.

     (2) "Adult" means a person who is at least the legal minimum purchase age.

     (3) "Consumer" means an individual who is not licensed as a wholesaler or retailer

pursuant to the provisions of § 44-20-2.

     (4) "Delivery sale" means any sale of cigarettes to a consumer in the state where either:

     (i) The purchaser submits the order for such sale by means of a telephonic or other

method of voice transmission, the mail or any other delivery service, or the Internet or other

online service; or

     (ii) The cigarettes are delivered by use of the mails or other delivery service. A sale of

cigarettes shall be a delivery sale regardless of whether the seller is located within or without the

state. A sale of cigarettes not for personal consumption to a person who is a wholesale dealer or a

retail dealer shall not be a delivery sale.

     (5) "Delivery service" means any person who is engaged in the commercial delivery of

letters, packages, or other containers.

     (6) "Legal minimum purchase age" means the minimum age at which an individual may

legally purchase cigarettes in the state, the age of twenty-one (21) years.

     (7) "Mail" or "mailing" means the shipment of cigarettes through the United States Postal

Service.

     (8) "Person" means the same as that term is defined in § 44-20-1.

     (9) "Shipping container" means bills of lading, airbills, or any other documents used to

evidence the undertaking by a delivery service to deliver letters, packages, or other containers.

     44-20.1-3. Age Verification requirements.

     (a) No person shall mail, ship, or otherwise deliver cigarettes in connection with a

delivery sale unless such person prior to the first delivery sale to such consumer:

     (1) Obtains from the prospective consumer a certification that includes:

     (i) A reliable confirmation that the consumer is at least the legal minimum purchase age;

and

     (ii) A statement signed by the prospective consumer in writing that certifies the

prospective consumer's address and that the consumer is at least eighteen (18) twenty-one (21)

years of age. Such statement shall also confirm:

     (A) That the prospective consumer understands that signing another person's name to

such certification is illegal;

     (B) That the sale of cigarettes to individuals under the legal minimum purchase age is

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illegal; and

     (C) That the purchase of cigarettes by individuals under the legal minimum purchase age

is illegal under the laws of the state; and

     (D) That the prospective consumer wants to receive mailings from a tobacco company;

     (2) Makes a good faith effort to verify the information contained in the certification

provided by the prospective consumer pursuant to subsection (1) against a commercially available

database, or obtains a photocopy or other image of the valid, government-issued identification

stating the date of birth or age of the individual placing the order;

     (3) Provides to the prospective consumer, via e-mail or other means, a notice that meets

the requirements of § 44-20.1-4; and

     (4) In the case of an order for cigarettes pursuant to an advertisement on the Internet,

receives payment for the delivery sale from the prospective consumer by a credit or debit card

that has been issued in such consumer's name or by check.

     (b) Persons accepting purchase orders for delivery sales may request that the prospective

consumers provide their e-mail addresses.

     44-20.1-5. Shipping requirements.

     (a) Each person who mails, ships, or otherwise delivers cigarettes in connection with a

delivery sale:

     (1) Shall include as part of the bill of lading or other shipping documents a clear and

conspicuous statement providing as follows: "Cigarettes: Rhode Island law prohibits shipping to

individuals under 18 (21), and requires the payment of all applicable taxes":

     (2) Shall use a method of mailing, shipping or delivery that obligates the delivery service

to require: (i) the consumer placing the purchase order for the delivery sale or another adult of

legal minimum purchase age residing at the consumer's address, to sign to accept delivery of the

shipping container; and (ii) proof, in the form of a valid, government-issued identification bearing

a photograph of the individual who signs to accept delivery of the shipping container,

demonstrating that he/she either the addressee or another adult of legal minimum purchase age

residing at the consumer's address. However, proof of the legal minimum purchase age shall be

required only if such individual appears to be under twenty-seven (27) thirty (30) years of age;

and

     (3) Shall provide to the delivery service retained for such delivery sale evidence of full

compliance with § 44-20.1-7.

     (b) If the person accepting a purchase order for a delivery sale delivers the cigarettes

without using a delivery service, such person shall comply with all requirements of this chapter

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applicable to a delivery service and shall be in violation of the provisions of this chapter if he/she

fails to comply with any such requirement.

     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL OFFENSES - CHILDREN

***

     This act would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone under twenty-one (21)

years of age and include electronic-nicotine delivery systems in the regulation of tobacco sales to

underage individuals.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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