[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of North Haven as indicated in article
histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-23-2001 STM]
The legislative body of the Town of North Haven finds:
A.
Sections 53-344 and 53-344(a) of the Connecticut General
Statutes make it unlawful for any person engaged in the manufacture or sale
of cigarettes to sell, barter, give or deliver cigarettes to any individual
under the age of 18 years; and
B.
Cigarettes are a heavily advertised consumer product
in the United States; and
C.
Connecticut medical costs related to treating smoking-related
diseases are very high; and
D.
Tobacco kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents,
murder, suicide, drugs and fire combined; and
E.
More than three-million young people under the age of
18 consume more than nine-hundred-forty-seven-million packs of cigarettes
annually in the United States, yielding gross sales to the tobacco industry
each year of approximately $10,000,000; and
F.
In Connecticut nearly one of every three high school
students and 13% of middle school children used tobacco within the last 30
days; and
G.
Every year, 12,000 Connecticut children become daily
smokers; and
H.
The average start smoking age in Connecticut is 11 years
old; and
I.
Current laws and regulations have proved ineffective
and inadequate in preventing the illegal purchase of cigarettes by children
under the age of 18 years, particularly from cigarette vending machines; and
J.
Connecticut General Statutes § 12-289a(h) authorizes
a town or municipality to ban or significantly restrict the placement of vending
machines for cigarette, tobacco or smokeless tobacco products.
No person shall dispense, or cause to be dispensed, cigarettes, tobacco
or smokeless tobacco products from vending machines at any location within
the Town of North Haven. A "vending machine" means a machine used for the
purpose of automatically merchandising packaged cigarettes, tobacco or smokeless
tobacco products after the proper amount of payment by the purchaser.
This ordinance is effective January 1, 2002.
