S-4538.2 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6686
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State of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Commerce & Labor (originally sponsored by Senators Oke, Schow, Benton, Horn, Winsley, Morton, Stevens, Prentice, T. Sheldon, Franklin, Rossi, Patterson, Haugen, Rasmussen, Zarelli and Anderson)
Read first time 02/06/98.
AN ACT Relating to making minor possession of tobacco a class 3 civil infraction and clarifying penalties for violation of current laws regarding youth access to tobacco; amending RCW 70.155.080; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the protection of adolescents' health requires a strong set of comprehensive health and law enforcement interventions. We know that youth are deterred from using alcohol in public because of existing laws making possession illegal. However, while the purchase of tobacco by youth is clearly prohibited, the possession of tobacco is not. It is the legislature's intent that youth hear consistent messages from public entities, including law enforcement, about public opposition to their illegal use of tobacco products.
The legislature finds that the public sector must find additional ways to decrease acceptability of cigarette and tobacco product possession by adolescents and send a clear message to youth that the public is not complacent about its use by youth. Citing youth for tobacco possession establishes a social norm that tobacco is not acceptable behavior. Aggressive possession laws with an educational alternative to fines send a message to youths that society actually does care about them and their health. When youth flagrantly disobey the law and receive no consequences, they lose respect for the law and law enforcement.
The legislature finds that the use of cigarettes and tobacco products by adolescents is harmful to their health and because of the highly addictive nature of tobacco-delivered nicotine, may lead to life-long health problems. Tobacco has an immediate effect on the body: Rapid heartbeat; increased pulse rate; shortness of breath; reduced circulation; increased coughing and wheezing; allergy flare-up; and more colds, flu, and pneumonia.
Tobacco use in adolescence is associated with a range of health-compromising behaviors including being involved in fights, carrying weapons, engaging in higher-risk sexual behavior, and using alcohol and other drugs. Youth who smoke are fourteen times more likely to abuse alcohol, one hundred times more likely to use marijuana, and thirty-two times more likely to use cocaine. The statistics show that nearly all new smokers in Washington are children or adolescents. Eighty-nine percent of adult smokers begin smoking before age eighteen. The average teenage smoker starts at age fourteen and becomes a regular smoker by age eighteen. Each day, in America, three thousand young people become smokers; nearly one-third will eventually die because of their addiction.
Sec. 2. RCW 70.155.080 and 1993 c 507 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
A person under the age of eighteen who purchases or attempts to purchase,
possesses, or obtains or attempts to obtain cigarettes or tobacco products
commits a class 3 civil infraction under chapter 7.80 RCW and is subject to a
fine as set out in chapter 7.80 RCW or participation in up to four hours of
community service, or both. The court may also require participation in a
smoking cessation program((, or both)). This provision does not apply
if a person under the age of eighteen, with parental authorization, is
participating in a controlled purchase as part of a liquor control board, law
enforcement, or local health department activity.
(2) Municipal and district courts within the state have jurisdiction for enforcement of this section.
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