Committee on Children
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: HB-5334
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ONLINE SALE AND DELIVERY OF ELECTRONIC
Title: NICOTINE DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND VAPOR PRODUCTS.
Vote Date: 3/10/2020
Vote Action: Joint Favorable
PH Date: 3/3/2020
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Committee on Children
REASONS FOR BILL:
Online sellers of electronic nicotine systems and vapor products will be required to have
purchasers of these products to provide identification at the time of purchase, and ensure that
the name on such identification matches the name on the method of payment used to make
the purchase.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
None expressed.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, Inc.
This bill is supported. The use of tobacco and vaping products poses a serious health risk to
the students of CABE and CABE supports all efforts to reduce student access to these
products.
Connecticut Hospital Association
CHA is supportive of measures that deter youth smoking as they know that the best way to
reduce health-associated harm caused by smoking is to abstain from smoking altogether, or,
at a minimum, delay the start of smoking. CHA has recommended the following revision.
CHA recommends that the committee consider amending the definition of electronic nicotine
delivery system to avoid interference with the use of nebulizers and other medicines and
therapies.
Jim Williams, Government Relations Director, American Heart Association
This bill is supported. Smoking is the #1 cause of heart disease. 480,000 state residents, or
18.4% of the adult population used some form of tobacco on one or more of the past thirty
days, and an estimated 4,900 adults die in CT each year as a result of their own smoking.
Currently, 10.3% of CT High School students smoke, and 1,300 kids under the age of 18
become new daily smokers each year. Smoking not only kills CT residents but is also
associated with some staggering monetary costs. $2.3 billion in annual health care costs in
CT are directly caused by smoking, $520.8 million of which is covered by the state Medicaid
program. The federal and state tax burden for residents from smoking-caused government
expenditures is $853 per household.
Bryte Johnson, Connecticut Director of Government Relations, American Cancer
Society Cancer Action Network
This bill is supported. The following recommendation is made, amend the bill to include a
prohibition on the delivery of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos,
smokeless tobacco, hookah, and all others, directly to a consumer and instead require any
online sales be shipped to an in-state licensed retailer to which the consumer would need to
go and be age verified by the retailer before picking up their purchase. Finally, requirements
and enforcement provisions should be in place that no online retailer can sell or ship tobacco
products to Connecticut without first registering with the Department of Consumer Protection
just as in- state retailers are required to do.
Kate Rumbaugh, State Government Affairs, JUUL Labs, Inc.
This bill is supported. JLI shares a common goal with policymakers, regulators, parents,
school officials, and community stakeholders - combating the underage use of tobacco and
ENDS products, including JUUL products. Online sales in which ENDS manufacturers
receive orders from adult customers through an Internet website and ship products directly to
the age-verified purchaser has some benefits. To make a purchase on JUUL.com, a
customer must first enter a phone number and verify physical ownership of it by entering a
code sent to that number. Once the number is verified, the customer must then enter their
legal name, date of birth, current address and the last four digits of their Social Security
Number. That information is combined with the verified phone number and checked against
publicly available databases to confirm that the information is of an adult, and that the
customer is that adult. If the customer does not have or will not provide a social security
number, or if their information does not fully match, then they are asked to upload a picture of
their government issued ID and a real-time photo of themselves. This process again confirms
that (1) the information is of an adult, and that (2) the customer is that adult. The ID and real-
time photo are checked by both computer algorithms and two human reviewers, ensuring a
robust verification process. The name associated with a profile must match the name on the
credit card, billing address, and shipping address. The age verification process online can
take up to 5 minutes, allowing a more thorough examination of the ID and real-time photo. It
is recommended that a quantity purchase limit that restricts the amount of product that age-
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verified adults can be obtained in a single transaction, as well as over an established period
of time (e.g., month) be established.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
None expressed.
Reported by: Theresa Mazzuca Date: 4/16/2020
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