(1) Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act, prohibits a person from selling or otherwise furnishing tobacco products, as defined, to a person under 21 years of age. The STAKE Act requires a person engaged in the retail sale of tobacco products to check the identification of a tobacco purchaser to establish the purchaser's age if the purchaser reasonably appears to be under 21 years of age.
This bill would, among other things, require a person engaged in the retail sale of tobacco products to use age verification software or an age verification device to establish the age of a tobacco purchaser.
The act requires the State Department of Public Health to, among other things, establish and develop a program to reduce the availability of tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age through enforcement activities, and conduct random, onsite sting inspections at retail sites. The act authorizes the department to also conduct onsite sting inspections in response to public complaints or at retail sites where violations have previously occurred.
This bill would, among other things, instead require the department to conduct random, onsite sting inspections at retail sites of at least 20% of the total number of licensed tobacco retailers, and in the event of a violation at a retail site, would require the department to conduct a 2nd sting inspection at that retail site within 6 months of the first violation, and a 3rd sting inspection within 12 months of the first violation.
The act imposes specified civil penalties for the furnishing of tobacco products to a person under 21 years of age. Existing law imposes additional civil penalties in the amount of $250 for a 3rd, 4th, and 5th violation, requires a 45-day suspension of the license to sell tobacco or cigarettes for a 3rd violation at the same location within a 5-year period, a similar 90-day suspension of the license for a 4th violation, and a revocation of the license for a 5th violation.
This bill would decrease the 5-year period for calculating the civil penalties and license suspensions and revocations for violations to a 36-month period and increase the penalty amount for a first, 2nd, and 3rd or subsequent violation imposed by an enforcement agency, as specified. The bill would instead require the additional $250 civil penalty and the license suspensions and revocation for the first, 2nd, and 3rd violations in a 36-month period, and would instead require a 60-day suspension of the license for the first violation.
(2) Existing law makes every person, firm, or corporation that knowingly or under circumstances in which it has knowledge, or should otherwise have grounds for knowledge, sells, gives, or in any way furnishes to another person who is under 21 years of age any tobacco, cigarette, cigarette papers, or blunt wraps, or any other preparation of tobacco, or any other instrument or paraphernalia that is designed for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco, tobacco products, or any controlled substance, subject to either a criminal action for a misdemeanor or a civil action, punishable by a fine, as specified.
This bill would instead subject a person described above to that criminal or civil fine, specified community service, or the criminal or civil fine and community service.
(3) Existing law requires that cartridges for electronic cigarettes and solutions for filling or refilling an electronic cigarette be in child-resistant packaging, as defined.
This bill would create various advertising, promoting, packaging, and selling prohibitions on electronic cigarettes, including, among others, prohibiting an electronic cigarette manufacturer from advertising, promoting, or packaging the electronic cigarette in a manner that is attractive to persons under 21 years of age, as specified, or is intended to encourage persons under 21 years of age to use the device, prohibiting a person from displaying on an electronic cigarette, or on its packaging, an indication or illustration that could cause a person to believe that the product is flavored if there is reasonable belief that the indication or illustration could be appealing to persons under 21 years of age. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to assess specified civil penalties for each violation.
(4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Statutes affected:
AB1639: 22952 BPC, 22956 BPC, 22958 BPC, 22962 BPC, 308 PEN
02/22/19 - Introduced: 22952 BPC, 22956 BPC, 22958 BPC, 22962 BPC, 308 PEN
07/02/19 - Amended Assembly: 22952 BPC, 22956 BPC, 22958 BPC, 22962 BPC, 308 PEN
08/13/19 - Amended Assembly: 22952 BPC, 22956 BPC, 22958 BPC, 22962 BPC, 308 PEN
08/21/19 - Amended Assembly: 22952 BPC, 22956 BPC, 22958 BPC, 22962 BPC, 308 PEN