Prohibits any cannabis related advertisements in establishments within a certain distance from schools; increases penalties for prohibited advertisement of tobacco and cannabis products; requires enforcement inspections.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6882
SPONSOR: Zaccaro
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to public display or
advertisements of cannabis products
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Prohibit the advertisement of words, pictures, photographs, symbols,
graphics or visual images of any kind associated with cannabis use or
cannabis products at businesses that sell tobacco products, electronic
cigarettes and smoking paraphernalia.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would include words, pictures, photographs, symbols, graphics,
or visual images of any kind, or any combination. thereof Which are
associated with cannabis use or cannabis products as defined in section
three of cannabis law and which are intended or reasonably expected to
promote the sale of such products as prohibited advertisements under
Section 1399-dd-1 of the public health law.
This bill would also increase the civil penalties associated with all
violations within this section to not more than five thousand dollars
for a first violation and not more than ten thousand dollars for a
second or subsequent violation and require that random inspections be
conducted on a quarterly basis to ensure compliance with the provisions
of this section.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Since the legalization of adult-use cannabis and the expansion of the
cannabis retail market we have seen a rise in the sale of illicit canna-
bis by business entities that legitimately sell tobacco products, smok-
ing paraphernalia, electronic cigarettes, and vapor products. This has
impacted the quality of life for residents and increased the likelihood
that individuals under 21 years of age will obtain cannabis at these
businesses that are not licensed by the state to sell adult-use canna-
bis.
Existing public health law prohibits the advertisement of tobacco
products, electronic cigarettes and smoking paraphernalia within one
thousand five hundred feet of a school and within five hundred feet of a
school if the school is located within New York City and includes civil
penalties for violations of the law.
This bill would include words, pictures, photographs, symbols, graphics
or visual images of any kind, or any combination thereof which are asso-
ciated with cannabis use or cannabis products that are intended or
reasonably expected to promote the sale of such products as prohibited
advertisements, increase the civil penalties for a first violation to
not more than five thousand dollars and not more than ten thousand
dollars for a second or subsequent violation.
Finally, this bill would require that an enforcement officer conduct
random inspections on a quarterly basis of businesses which are licensed
to sell tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and smoking parapher-
nalia.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it Shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6882
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ZACCARO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to public display or
advertisements of cannabis products
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1399-dd-1 of the public health law, as added by
2 section 13 of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 § 1399-dd-1. Public display of tobacco product and electronic ciga-
5 rette advertisements and smoking paraphernalia prohibited. 1. For
6 purposes of this section:
7 (a) "Advertisement" means words, pictures, photographs, symbols,
8 graphics or visual images of any kind, or any combination thereof, which
9 bear a health warning required by federal statute, the purpose or effect
10 of which is to identify a brand of a tobacco product, electronic ciga-
11 rette, or vapor product intended or reasonably expected to be used with
12 or for the consumption of nicotine, a trademark of a tobacco product,
13 electronic cigarette, or vapor product intended or reasonably expected
14 to be used with or for the consumption of nicotine [or], a trade name
15 associated exclusively with a tobacco product, electronic cigarette, or
16 vapor product intended or reasonably expected to be used with or for the
17 consumption of nicotine or to promote the use or sale of a tobacco prod-
18 uct, electronic cigarette, or vapor product intended or reasonably
19 expected to be used with or for the consumption of nicotine, or words,
20 pictures, photographs, symbols, graphics or visual images of any kind,
21 or any combination thereof which are associated with cannabis use or
22 cannabis products as defined in section three of the cannabis law and
23 which are intended or reasonably expected to promote the sale of such
24 products.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10880-03-3
A. 6882 2
1 (b) "Smoking paraphernalia" means any pipe, water pipe, hookah, roll-
2 ing papers, electronic cigarette, vaporizer or any other device, equip-
3 ment or apparatus designed for the inhalation of tobacco or nicotine.
4 (c) "Vapor product" means any vapor product, as defined by section
5 thirteen hundred ninety-nine-aa of this article, intended or reasonably
6 expected to be used with or for the consumption of nicotine.
7 (d) "Tobacco products" shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
8 five of section thirteen hundred ninety-nine-aa of this article.
9 (e) "Electronic cigarette" shall have the same meaning as in subdivi-
10 sion thirteen of section thirteen hundred ninety-nine-aa of this arti-
11 cle.
12 2. (a) No person, corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited
13 partnership, association or any other business entity may place, cause
14 to be placed, maintain or to cause to be maintained, smoking parapher-
15 nalia or advertisements for any tobacco product, electronic cigarette,
16 or vapor product intended or reasonably expected to be used with or for
17 the consumption of nicotine [advertisements] in a store front or exteri-
18 or window or any door which is used for entry or egress by the public to
19 the building or structure containing a place of business within one
20 thousand five hundred feet of a school, provided that within New York
21 city such prohibitions shall only apply within five hundred feet of a
22 school.
23 (b) Any person, corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited
24 partnership, association or any other business entity in violation of
25 this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than five
26 [hundred] thousand dollars for a first violation and not more than [one]
27 ten thousand dollars for a second or subsequent violation.
28 3. An enforcement officer, or the department where no enforcement
29 officer has been designated, shall conduct random inspections on a quar-
30 terly basis of each retail dealer licensed to sell cigarettes, tobacco
31 products, or vapor products at establishments located within the juris-
32 diction of such enforcement officer or office, to determine compliance
33 with the provisions of this section.
34 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
35 have become a law.