SB 39, Hill. Tobacco products.
Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, prohibits the sale, distribution, or nonsale distribution of tobacco products, as defined, directly or indirectly to any person under 21 years of age through the United States Postal Service or through any other public or private postal or package delivery service. Existing law requires a person selling or distributing tobacco products directly to a consumer through the United States Postal Service or by another postal or package delivery service to comply with specified age-verification policies and deliver only to the consumer’s verified mailing or billing address, as applicable. Existing law authorizes enforcing agencies to assess civil penalties for violations of the STAKE Act.
This bill would additionally require sellers, distributors, and nonsale distributors to deliver tobacco products only in conspicuously marked containers, as specified, and to obtain the signature of a person 21 years of age or older before delivering a tobacco product. The bill would allow a person to designate an address for delivery that is different from the person’s mailing or billing address, if the person’s mailing or billing address has been verified in accordance with specified provisions.
DIGEST KEY
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal Committee: yes Local Program: no
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
Section 22963 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
22963.
(a) The sale, distribution, or nonsale distribution of tobacco products directly or indirectly to any person under 21 years of age through the United States Postal Service or through any other public or private postal or package delivery service at locations, including, but not limited to, public mailboxes and mailbox stores, is prohibited.
(b) Any person selling or distributing, or engaging in the nonsale distribution of, tobacco products directly to a consumer in the state through the United States Postal Service or by any other public or private postal or package delivery service, including orders placed by mail, telephone, facsimile transmission, or the internet, shall comply with the following provisions:
(1) (A) Before enrolling a person as a customer, or distributing or selling, or engaging in the nonsale distribution of, the tobacco product through any of these means, the distributor or seller shall verify that the purchaser or recipient of the product is 21 years of age or older. The distributor or seller shall attempt to match the name, address, and date of birth provided by the customer to information contained in records in a database of individuals whose age has been verified to be 21 years or older by reference to an appropriate database of government records kept by the distributor, a direct marketing firm, or any other entity. In the case of a sale, the distributor or seller shall also verify that the billing address on the check or credit card offered for payment by the purchaser matches the address listed in the database.
(B) If the seller, distributor, or nonsale distributor, is unable to verify that the purchaser or recipient is 21 years of age or older pursuant to subparagraph (A), the seller, distributor, or nonsale distributor shall require the customer or recipient to submit an age-verification kit consisting of an attestation signed by the customer or recipient that the customer or recipient is 21 years of age or older and a copy of a valid form of government identification. For the purposes of this section, a valid form of government identification includes a driver’s license, state identification card, passport, an official naturalization or immigration document, such as an alien registration receipt card (commonly known as a “green card”) or an immigrant visa, or military identification. In the case of a sale, the distributor or seller shall also verify that the billing address on the check or credit card provided by the consumer matches the address listed in the form of government identification.
(2) In the case of a sale, the distributor or seller shall impose a two-carton minimum on each order of cigarettes, and shall require payment for the purchase of any tobacco product to be made by personal check of the purchaser or the purchaser’s credit card. No money order or cash payment shall be received or permitted. The distributor or seller shall submit to each credit card acquiring company with which it has credit card sales identification information in an appropriate form and format so that the words “tobacco product” may be printed in the purchaser’s credit card statement when a purchase of a tobacco product is made by credit card payment.
(3) In the case of a sale, the distributor or seller shall make a telephone call after 5 p.m. to the purchaser confirming the order prior to shipping the tobacco products. The telephone call may be a person-to-person call or a recorded message. The distributor or seller is not required to speak directly with a person and may leave a message on an answering machine or by voice mail.
(4) (A) The nonsale distributor shall deliver the tobacco product to the recipient’s verified mailing address, or in the case of a sale, the seller or distributor shall deliver the tobacco product to the purchaser’s verified billing address on the check or credit card used for payment.
(B) In the case of a nonsale, a recipient may designate an alternative address for delivery, if the recipient’s mailing address has been verified in accordance with this section.
(C) In the case of a sale, a purchaser may designate an alternative address for delivery, if the purchaser’s billing address has been verified in accordance with this section.
(D) A delivery described under this section shall not be permitted to any post office box.
(5) The tobacco product shall be delivered only in a container that is conspicuously labeled with the words: “CONTAINS TOBACCO PRODUCTS: SIGNATURE OF PERSON 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY.”
(6) Upon the delivery of the tobacco product to the recipient’s or purchaser’s address, the seller, distributor, or nonsale distributor shall obtain the signature of a person 21 years of age or older before completing the delivery.