Prohibits the use of cannabis within thirty feet of a child or within thirty feet of any location in which children reside or attend for any recreational or educational purpose; provides for increased penalties for a second or subsequent violation.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1007
SPONSOR: Steck TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to restrictions on cannabis
use near children
PURPOSE:
Studies have shown that second-hand smoke from vaping and smoking canna-
bis are proven to be harmful to the health of adults and children. Most
adults have to ability to remove themselves from the area, children may
not have the same ability. This bill requires adults maintain a safe
distance from children when smoking or vaping cannabis.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Section 222.10 of the penal law, as added by chapter 92 of
the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
3. smoke or vape cannabis within thirty feet of a child or within thirty
feet of any location in which children reside or attend for any recre-
ational or educational purpose, including areas separated by walls,
closed doors or floors within a building. Notwithstanding any other
section of law, violations of restrictions on cannabis use are subject
to a civil penalty not exceeding twenty-five dollars or an amount of
community service not exceeding twenty hours; provided that for a second
or subsequent violation of the restrictions set forth in subdivision
three of this section, a person shall be charged with a class B misde-
meanor.
§ 2. Effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
According to a study published by the National Institutes of Health.
"Second-hand exposure to marijuana smoke can lead to cannabinoid meta-
bolites in bodily fluids sufficient for positive results on testing of
oral fluids, blood and urine, and can lead to psychoactive effects.
There is evidence of a weak dose-response relation between THC content
of cannabis and effects on those exposed to second-hand smoke, including
metabolites found in blood and urine, and psychoactive effects."
Mount Sinai Researchers Conduct Study of Second-Hand Marijuana Smoke in
Children: Study published in Pediatrics evaluates children in Colorado
"New York, NY (November 19, 2018) In a study designed to evaluate
secondhand marijuana smoke exposure among children-a topic that scien-
tists have not yet widely addressed-researchers at the Icahn School of
Medicine at Mount Sinai found that nearly half of children whose parents
smoked marijuana showed evidence of second-hand marijuana smoke expo-
sure."
"Among the parents studied, smoking was the most common form of marijua-
na use (30.1 percent), followed by edibles (14.5 percent) and vaporizers
(9.6 percent). This finding is consistent with national trends pointing
to smoked marijuana as the most common form of consumption."
"Testing of urinary marijuana biomarkers was conducted by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers at the CDC
discovered
that 46 percent of the children had detectable levels of the marijuana
metabolite tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (COON-THC). In addition,
11 percent of children had detectable levels of tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the primary psychoactive constituent in marijuana. THC is consid-
ered a reliable indicator of both recent and active exposure, and a
higher level of exposure overall. "These are worrisome results, suggest-
ing nearly half of the children of parents who smoke marijuana are
getting exposed and 11 percent are exposed to a much greater degree,"
says Dr. Wilson."
Although most parents reported that no one ever smoked marijuana inside
their homes {84.0 percent), 7.4 percent reported marijuana smoking in
the home daily. When asked what happened if someone wanted to smoke
marijuana in the home while the children were present, 51.8 percent
reported that there was no smoking when children were home, 21.7 percent
stepped outside, and 9.6 percent smoked in another room or another
floor.
One-third (33.3 percent) of children whose parents stepped outside to
smoke tested positive for COOH-THC. "Stepping outside might sound like a
good idea, but the evidence we collected suggests that kids are still
getting exposed through second-hand or possibly third-hand smoke expo-
sure," says Dr. Wilson.
Third-hand smoke is the residue that lingers after a cigarette has been
extinguished. "We know that third-hand smoke-smoke that lingers in our
hair, our clothes, even our skin-results in biological exposure that we
can detect. What remains unclear is the extent and consequence of this
mechanism of exposure," says Dr. Wilson.
"Our findings suggest that smoking in the home, even in a different
room, results in exposure to children. The more we understand second-
hand and third-hand smoke exposure, the better we can protect children
in the home in states where marijuana is legal," says Dr. Wilson.
The study points out that tobacco and marijuana smoke contain similar
harmful chemicals, with a large body of research data on the former and
little on the latter. According to a 2006 Report of the Surgeon General,
second-hand exposure to tobacco smoke causes an increased risk of sudden
infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease,
and more severe and frequent asthma attacks in infants and children.
Although most states with legal marijuana use restrict its use in public
indoor and outdoor spaces, they do not have any restrictions on combust-
ible marijuana use in the presence of children."
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
i. "Health effects of exposure to second- and third-hand marijuana
smoke: a systematic review" by Hannah Holitzki, BHSc, Laura E. Dowsett,
MSc, Eldon Spackman, PhD, Tom Noseworthy, MD, MPH, and Fiona Clement,
PhD. 2017, published online.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5741419/
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1007
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STECK, BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to restrictions on cannabis
use near children
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 222.10 of the penal law, as added by chapter 92 of
2 the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 222.10 Restrictions on cannabis use.
4 Unless otherwise authorized by law or regulation, no person shall:
5 1. smoke or vape cannabis in a location where smoking or vaping canna-
6 bis is prohibited pursuant to article thirteen-E of the public health
7 law; [or]
8 2. smoke, vape or ingest cannabis or concentrated cannabis in or upon
9 the grounds of a school, as defined in subdivision ten of section eleven
10 hundred twenty-five of the education law or in or on a school bus, as
11 defined in section one hundred forty-two of the vehicle and traffic law;
12 provided, however, provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to
13 acts that are in compliance with article three of the cannabis law; or
14 3. smoke or vape cannabis within thirty feet of a child or within
15 thirty feet of any location in which children reside or attend for any
16 recreational or educational purpose, including areas separated by walls,
17 closed doors or floors within a building.
18 Notwithstanding any other section of law, violations of restrictions
19 on cannabis use are subject to a civil penalty not exceeding twenty-five
20 dollars or an amount of community service not exceeding twenty hours;
21 provided that for a second or subsequent violation of the restrictions
22 set forth in subdivision three of this section, a person shall be
23 charged with a class B misdemeanor.
24 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
25 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00686-01-5
