2003-2004 Bill 3404: Underage Tobacco Distribution/Possession Provisions Changed from Eighteen

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 115th Session, 2003-2004 3 4 H. 3404 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Rep. Altman 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gjk\20109sl03.doc 11 12 Introduced in the House on January 22, 2003 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary 14 15 Summary: Underage tobacco distribution/possession provisions changed from eighteen to twenty-one 16 years 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 1/22/2003 House Introduced and read first time HJ-26 23 1/22/2003 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-26 24 25 26 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 27 28 1/22/2003 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 20-7-8927 SO AS TO PROHIBIT 13 A PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE FROM 14 PURCHASING OR POSSESSING TOBACCO PRODUCTS; TO 15 AMEND SECTION 16-17-500, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 16 SUPPLYING A MINOR WITH TOBACCO, SO AS TO MAKE 17 IT UNLAWFUL TO SUPPLY A PERSON UNDER THE AGE 18 OF TWENTY-ONE WITH TOBACCO PRODUCTS; TO 19 AMEND SECTION 16-17-501, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS 20 USED IN CONNECTION WITH TOBACCO DISTRIBUTION 21 TO MINORS, SO AS TO CHANGE THE REFERENCE FROM 22 AN INDIVIDUAL EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER 23 TO ONE TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER; TO 24 AMEND SECTION 16-17-502, RELATING TO DISTRIBUTION 25 OF TOBACCO PRODUCT SAMPLES, SO AS TO MAKE IT 26 UNLAWFUL TO SUPPLY A PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF 27 TWENTY-ONE WITH TOBACCO PRODUCT SAMPLES AND 28 TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON DISTRIBUTING TOBACCO 29 PRODUCT SAMPLES SHALL DEMAND PROOF OF A 30 PROSPECTIVE RECIPIENT’S AGE IF HE APPEARS TO BE 31 UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE; TO AMEND SECTION 32 16-17-503, RELATING TO ENFORCEMENT AND 33 REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF TOBACCO RELATED 34 OFFENSES, SO AS TO CHANGE THE REFERENCE FROM 35 PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN TO PERSONS 36 UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE; TO AMEND SECTION 37 40-6-230, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO AUCTIONEERS OF 38 TOBACCO AND LIVESTOCK, SO AS TO ADD A PROVISION 39 STATING THAT AUCTIONING TOBACCO IS NOT 40 POSSESSION OF TOBACCO; AND TO AMEND SECTIONS 41 44-128-20 AND 44-128-50, BOTH RELATING TO SOUTH 42 CAROLINA YOUTH SMOKING PREVENTION, SO AS TO

1 [3404] 1 1 CHANGE REFERENCES TO MINORS FROM PEOPLE 2 UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN TO PEOPLE UNDER THE 3 AGE OF TWENTY-ONE. 4 5 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 6 Carolina: 7 8 SECTION 1. Subarticle 23, Article 30, Chapter 7, Title 20 of the 9 1976 Code is amended by adding: 10 11 “Section 20-7-8927. (A) A person under the age of twenty-one 12 may not purchase or knowingly possess tobacco products. 13 Possession is prima facie evidence that the tobacco product is 14 knowingly possessed. 15 (B) A person may not falsely represent his age for the purpose 16 of procuring tobacco products. 17 (C) ‘Tobacco products’ include, but are not limited to, 18 cigarettes, tobacco, cigarette paper, or a substitute for them.” 19 20 SECTION 2. Section 16-17-500 of the 1976 Code, as amended by 21 Act 445 of 1996, is further amended to read: 22 23 “Section 16-17-500. (A) It shall be is unlawful for any a 24 person to sell, furnish, give, or provide any minor a person under 25 the age of eighteen years twenty - one with cigarettes, tobacco, 26 cigarette paper, or any substitute therefore tobacco products. Any 27 A person violating the provisions of this section, either in person, 28 by agent, or in any other another way, shall be is guilty of a 29 misdemeanor and, upon indictment and conviction, therefor shall 30 be must be punished as follows: 31 (1) for a first offense, by a fine not exceeding twenty-five 32 dollars; 33 (2) for a second offense, by a fine not exceeding fifty 34 dollars; and 35 (3) for a third or subsequent offense, by a fine of not less 36 than one hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than one 37 year nor and not less than sixty days, or both. 38 (B) One-half of any a fine imposed shall must be paid to the 39 informer of the offense and the other half to the treasurer of the 40 county in which such of the conviction shall be had.” 41 42 SECTION 3. Section 16-17-501(2) of the 1976 Code, as added by 43 Act 445 of 1996, is amended to read:

1 [3404] 2 1 2 “(2) ‘Proof of age’ means a driver’s license or other 3 documentary or written evidence that the individual is eighteen 4 twenty - one years of age or older.” 5 6 SECTION 4. Section 16-17-502(A) and (B) of the 1976 Code, as 7 added by Act 445 of 1996, is amended to read: 8 9 “(A) It is unlawful for a person to distribute a tobacco product 10 sample to a person under the age of eighteen years twenty - one. 11 (B) A person engaged in sampling shall demand proof of age 12 from a prospective recipient if an ordinary person would conclude 13 on the basis of appearance that the prospective recipient may be 14 under the age of eighteen years twenty - one.” 15 16 SECTION 5. Section 16-17-503(A) of the 1976 Code, as added 17 by Act 445 of 1996, is amended to read: 18 19 “(A) The Director of the Department of Revenue shall provide 20 for the enforcement of Section 16-17-502 in a manner that 21 reasonably may be expected to reduce the extent to which tobacco 22 products are sold or distributed to persons under the age of 23 eighteen years twenty - one and annually shall conduct random, 24 unannounced inspections at locations where tobacco products are 25 sold or distributed to ensure compliance with the section. The 26 department shall designate an enforcement officer to conduct the 27 annual inspections. Penalties collected pursuant to Section 28 16-17-502 must be used to offset the costs of enforcement.” 29 30 SECTION 6. Section 40-6-230 of the 1976 Code, as amended by 31 Act 318 of 2000, is further amended by adding an appropriately 32 lettered subsection at the end to read: 33 34 “( ) For purposes of this section, auctioning tobacco is not 35 possession of a tobacco product under Section 20-7-8927.” 36 37 SECTION 7. Section 44-128-20 of the 1976 Code is amended to 38 read: 39 40 “Section 44-128-20. (A) The Department of Health and 41 Environmental Control shall develop and implement a Youth 42 Smoking Prevention Plan for the purpose of preventing and

1 [3404] 3 1 reducing cigarette smoking by minors people under the age of 2 twenty - one. 3 (B) The Youth Smoking Prevention Plan must address 4 prevention, cessation, and control of smoking by minors people 5 under the age of twenty - one and may include, but is not limited to: 6 (1) media campaigns; 7 (2) school based youth programs; 8 (3) community based youth programs; 9 (4) business, community, and school partnerships; 10 (5) programs focusing on the enforcement and 11 administration of state minor related tobacco laws, including 12 retailer education; 13 (6) surveillance and evaluations; 14 (7) chronic disease and health-related programs. 15 (C)(1) To assist in carrying out the purposes of the plan, the 16 department may award youth smoking prevention grants to local 17 agencies, organizations, and entities based on criteria developed by 18 the department. 19 (2) As a condition for the receipt of funds under this chapter, 20 a grantee shall agree to file a report with the advisory commission, 21 as to the following: 22 (a) amount received as a grant and the expenditures made 23 with the proceeds of the grant; 24 (b) a description of the program offered and the number of 25 youths who participated in the program; and 26 (c) specific elements of the program meeting the criteria 27 set forth in the state plan. 28 (D) The state plan further shall provide for a grant for an annual 29 statewide school-based survey to measure cigarette use and 30 behaviors towards cigarette use by individuals in grades 6-12 sixth 31 through twelfth. This survey shall: 32 (1) involve a statistically valid sample of the individuals in 33 each grade from sixth through twelfth; 34 (2) not include any individual who is eighteen twenty - one 35 years of age or older; and 36 (3) be made available to the public, along with the resulting 37 date, excluding respondent identities and respondent-identifiable 38 date.” 39 40 SECTION 8. Section 44-128-50(B)(3)(d) of the 1976 Code is 41 amended to read: 42

1 [3404] 4 1 “(d) two youths between the ages of twelve and eighteen 2 twenty - one; and” 3 4 SECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval by the 5 Governor. 6 ----XX---- 7

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