Tobacco to 21 Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2411 To prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 21. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2019 Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Mr. STEWART, Mr. COHEN, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. FLORES, and Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce A BILL To prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 21. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tobacco to 21 Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Tobacco use has caused more than 7 20,800,000 premature deaths in the United States 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2411 IH since the Surgeon General’s first report on smoking 1 in 1964. 2 (2) The 1964 Surgeon General’s report linked 3 cigarette smoking to cancer, and since then, other 4 tobacco products, including cigars, cigarillos, roll- 5 your-own products, and smokeless tobacco have been 6 causally linked to cancer. 7 (3) While substantial gains have been made 8 since 1964, tobacco use remains the leading prevent- 9 able cause of death in the United States, responsible 10 for more than 480,000 premature deaths each year. 11 (4) Tobacco use costs the United States ap- 12 proximately $175,000,000,000 in direct medical 13 costs and $156,000,000,000 in lost productivity 14 every year. 15 (5) More than 34,000,000 people in the United 16 States still smoke, and the tobacco industry con- 17 tinues to challenge tobacco control measures in 18 court, manipulate products to evade existing regula- 19 tions, introduce new and dangerous tobacco prod- 20 ucts, and spend billions of dollars on marketing to 21 deceive the public and addict more children. 22 (6) An estimated 5,600,000 youth aged 17 and 23 under are projected to die prematurely from a to- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2411 IH bacco-related illness if prevalence rates do not 1 change. 2 (7) Each day in the United States, more than 3 2,000 youth under 18 years of age smoke their first 4 cigarette. 5 (8) Use of tobacco products in any form is not 6 safe, especially during adolescence, as such use can 7 lead to nicotine dependence and subsequent tobacco- 8 related diseases and death. 9 (9) Adolescents are especially vulnerable to the 10 effects of nicotine and nicotine addiction and appear 11 to show signs of nicotine addiction at lower levels of 12 exposure compared to adults. 13 (10) Nicotine exposure during adolescence may 14 have lasting adverse consequences on brain develop- 15 ment. According to the Surgeon General, the use of 16 products containing nicotine in any form among 17 youth, including in electronic cigarettes, is unsafe. 18 (11) The likelihood of developing smoking-re- 19 lated cancers increases with duration of smoking. 20 Therefore, smokers that start at younger ages and 21 continue to smoke are at higher risk for tobacco-re- 22 lated disease and death. 23 (12) National data show that about 94 percent 24 of adult smokers begin smoking before they turn 21. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2411 IH The ages of 18 to 21 are a critical period when 1 many smokers move from experimental smoking to 2 regular, daily use. 3 (13) Three-quarters of adults in the United 4 States favor raising the tobacco age of sale to 21 5 years, including 7 in 10 smokers. 6 (14) In 2018, the Surgeon General issued an 7 advisory on the electronic cigarette epidemic among 8 youth. Electronic cigarette use among high school 9 students in the United States increased 78 percent 10 from 2017 to 2018. In 2018, more than 3,600,000 11 youth, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 12 in 20 middle school students used electronic ciga- 13 rettes. 14 (15) Electronic cigarettes are the most com- 15 monly used tobacco product among youth. According 16 to the Surgeon General’s 2016 report on electronic 17 cigarettes, electronic cigarette use is strongly associ- 18 ated with the use of other tobacco products among 19 youth and young adults. 20 (16) The 2015 report of the National Academy 21 of Medicine entitled, ‘‘Public Health Implications of 22 Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to To- 23 bacco Products’’, concluded that raising the min- 24 imum legal age of sale of tobacco products nation- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2411 IH wide will reduce tobacco initiation, particularly 1 among adolescents aged 15 to 17, and will improve 2 health across the lifespan and save lives. Specifically, 3 the report said that raising the minimum legal age 4 of sale of tobacco products nationwide to age 21 5 would, over time, lead to a 12-percent decrease in 6 smoking prevalence. 7 (17) The National Academy of Medicine report 8 also predicts that raising the minimum legal age of 9 sale of tobacco products nationwide to age 21 would 10 result in 223,000 fewer premature deaths, 45,000 11 fewer deaths from lung cancer, and 4,200,000 fewer 12 years of life lost for those born between 2000 and 13 2019. In addition, the report concluded that raising 14 the minimum legal age of sale would result in near 15 immediate reductions in preterm birth, low birth 16 weight, and sudden infant death syndrome. 17 (18) Regulating the retail environment, actively 18 enforcing laws, and educating retailers are strategies 19 that Federal, State, and local governments can take 20 to restrict the availability of tobacco products to 21 youth. 22 (19) Twelve States, the District of Columbia, 23 and more than 110 localities in an additional 15 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2411 IH States have raised the minimum legal tobacco sale 1 age to 21. 2 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AND ENFORCEMENT. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 4 sion of law, including any Federal regulation, it shall be 5 unlawful to sell a tobacco product to anyone under the 6 age of 21 or to sell a tobacco product to anyone under 7 30 without verification of age by means of photo identi- 8 fication. 9 (b) AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 11 Human Services (referred to in this section as the 12 ‘‘Secretary’’) is authorized to enforce the prohibition 13 under subsection (a) and shall take necessary action 14 to enforce such prohibition, including, as appro- 15 priate, conducting undercover compliance checks, 16 performing retailer inspections, initiating enforce- 17 ment actions for noncompliance, and taking any 18 other measures appropriate to help ensure nation- 19 wide compliance with such prohibition. 20 (2) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary may issue guid- 21 ance concerning the responsibility of persons subject 22 to subsection (a) to ensure compliance with such 23 prohibition. 24 (c) PENALTIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2411 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of 1 subsection (a), the Secretary may apply the penalties 2 under section 103(q)(2) of the Family Smoking Pre- 3 vention and Tobacco Control Act (Public Law 111– 4 31), as though such subsection (a) were a regulation 5 promulgated under paragraph (1) of section 906(d) 6 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 7 U.S.C. 387f(d)), notwithstanding paragraph 8 (3)(A)(ii) of such section 906(d). 9 (2) REPEATED VIOLATIONS.—In the case of re- 10 peated violations of subsection (a), alone or com- 11 bined with violations of other regulations promul- 12 gated under 906(d)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, 13 and Cosmetic Act, the Secretary may impose a pen- 14 alty under section 303(f)(8) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 15 333(f)(8)), as though subsection (a) were a regula- 16 tion promulgated under paragraph (1) of section 17 906(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 18 Act, notwithstanding paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of such 19 section 906(d). 20 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘tobacco 21 product’’ has the meaning given such term in section 22 201(rr) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 23 U.S.C. 321(rr)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2411 IH (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 1 on January 1, 2020. 2 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 3 tion shall be construed to prevent a State or local govern- 4 mental entity from establishing, enforcing, or maintaining 5 a law with respect to sales of tobacco to individuals below 6 a minimum age, provided that such State or local law is 7 in addition to, or more stringent than, Federal law. 8 (g) APPLICATION.—The prohibition under subsection 9 (a) applies only to a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, 10 third-party marketplace, or other commercial entity that 11 sells tobacco products. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2411.IH H2411 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS