Prohibits persons under age 19 from smoking or carrying a lighted tobacco product in an outdoor public place.

An Act concerning the use of tobacco products by persons under 19 years of age and supplementing chapter 170 of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Since 1964, the Surgeon General of the United States, the highest-ranking public health officer in the nation, has produced 28 reports by recognized medical experts on the use of tobacco; and, in each report, leading scientists have found that using tobacco causes people to become sick, disabled, or die;

b. These reports have determined that smoking is the single greatest avoidable cause of disease and death in the United States;

c. Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and has been directly linked to: various forms of cancer, including bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers; arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease; congestive heart failure; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; reproductive health problems; sudden infant death syndrome among babies whose mothers smoke during pregnancy; and other diseases that adversely affect a person’s general health;

d. People who smoke are more likely to be absent from work, have longer illnesses, incur more medical costs, see physicians more often in outpatient settings, and be admitted to the hospital more often and for longer periods than nonsmokers;

e. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke;

f. The smoking of tobacco is almost always initiated and established in adolescence, typically by 16 years of age;

g. Because nicotine addiction occurs during adolescence, adolescent tobacco users are likely to become adult tobacco users;

h. Tobacco use is associated with alcohol and illicit drug use; and tobacco is generally the first drug used by young people who enter a sequence of drug use that can include alcohol, marijuana, and harder drugs, the purchase, possession, or use of which by minors is already prohibited by law;

i. Active smoking by young people is associated with significant health problems during childhood and adolescence, and with increased risk for health problems in adulthood;

j. The United States Department of Health and Human Services estimates that more than 3,000 children nationwide start smoking every day, and that more than three million American children under age 18 consume more than 947 million packs of cigarettes annually;

k. Major manufacturers of cigarettes and other tobacco products have stated their belief that minors should not smoke or have access to cigarettes;

l. The State of New Jersey statutorily prohibits the sale or distribution of tobacco in any form to persons under 19 years of age and the smoking of tobacco in indoor public places and workplaces, and municipalities throughout this State are authorized by law to adopt ordinances that restrict smoking in public places; and

m. It must be the public policy of this State to deter children and adolescents from smoking tobacco and thereby seek to protect them from the scourge of tobacco-related disease, disability, and death.

2. a. It shall be unlawful for a person under 19 years of age to smoke or carry a lighted cigarette, or other tobacco product that can be smoked, in an outdoor public place.

As used in this act, “outdoor public place" means an outdoor place to which the public has access, including a public street, road, thoroughfare, sidewalk, bridge, alley, plaza, park, recreation or shopping area, parking lot, or any other outdoor public structure or area.

b. A person who violates the provisions of subsection a. of this section shall be liable to the following:

(1) for a first offense: issuance of a written warning by a law enforcement officer, which may include parental notification of the violation by the law enforcement officer;

(2) for a second offense: assignment, by the municipal court having jurisdiction, to perform community service for a maximum of 25 hours; and participation in an educational program on the dangers of smoking tobacco, as designated by the court; and

(3) for a third and each subsequent offense: assignment, by the municipal court having jurisdiction, to perform community service for a maximum of 50 hours; and a civil penalty of $75, to be collected pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.), in a summary proceeding before the court.

c. A law enforcement officer having enforcement authority in that municipality may issue a summons for a violation of the provisions of this act, and may serve and execute all process with respect to the enforcement of this act consistent with the Rules of Court. A penalty recovered under the provisions of this act shall be recovered by and in the name of the State by the local health agency and shall be paid into the treasury of the municipality in which the violation occurred for the general uses of the municipality.

3. This act shall take effect on the 60th day after enactment.





STATEMENT

This bill is intended to deter minors from smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products in any outdoor public place.

The bill provides specifically as follows:

· It is unlawful for a person under age 19 to smoke or carry a lighted cigarette, or other tobacco product that can be smoked, in an outdoor public place.

· The bill defines "outdoor public place" to mean an outdoor place to which the public has access, including a public street, road, thoroughfare, sidewalk, bridge, alley, plaza, park, recreation or shopping area, parking lot, or any other outdoor public structure or area.

· A person who violates the provisions of the bill is liable to the following:

-- for a first offense: issuance of a written warning by a law enforcement officer, which may include parental notification of the violation by the law enforcement officer;

-- for a second offense: assignment, by the municipal court having jurisdiction, to perform community service for a maximum of 25 hours; and participation in an educational program on the dangers of smoking tobacco, as designated by the court; and

-- for a third and each subsequent offense: assignment, by the municipal court having jurisdiction, to perform community service for a maximum of 50 hours; and a civil penalty of $75, to be collected pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999" in a summary proceeding before the court.

· The bill takes effect on the 60th day after enactment.