[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village
of Flower Hill as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-1-2017 by L.L.
No. 10-2017]
The Board of Trustees hereby finds and determines that the sale
of tobacco and related products to individuals under 21 years of age
should be prohibited in the Village in order to:
A.
Further the goals of New York State's tobacco use prevention
and control program, as identified in New York State Public Health
Law § 1399-ii.
B.
Respond to the fact that tobacco is the leading cause of preventable
death and disease in New York State.
C.
Respond to findings made by the Institute of Medicine, which prepared
a report at the request of the United States Food and Drug Administration
entitled "Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of
Legal Access to Tobacco Products," concluding and suggesting that:
(1)
Adolescent brains are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of nicotine;
(2)
A younger age of initiation is strongly associated with greater nicotine
dependence and is also associated with greater intensity and persistence
of smoking beyond adolescence and into adulthood;
(3)
Almost one in five high school seniors is a current cigarette smoker;
(4)
Underage users rely primarily on social sources, such as friends
and family, to acquire tobacco, and most of these sources are likely
to be between 18 and 20 years old;
(5)
Raising the minimum legal age to 21 will mean that those who can
legally obtain tobacco are less likely to be in the same social networks
as high school students;
(6)
Delaying initiation rates will likely decrease the prevalence of
tobacco users in the United States population; and
(7)
Raising the minimum legal age will likely immediately improve the
health of adolescents and young adults by reducing the number who
suffer with adverse physiological effects.
D.
Respond to findings that most (nearly 90%) of those addicted to tobacco
start using tobacco before 21 years of age.
E.
Respond to the growing rates of electronic cigarette use among youth,
which exposes users to unhealthy levels of nicotine and other unknown
harmful chemicals.
F.
Reduce the exposure of our youth to disease-causing toxins in secondhand
smoke and in chemicals emitted from electronic cigarettes, liquid
nicotine, shisha, herbal cigarettes, and other "age-restricted products,"
as defined herein.
G.
Prevent the exposure of youth, who are particularly susceptible to
addiction, to the chemically addictive effects of tobacco and related
products in an effort to improve public wellness and reduce health
insurance expenditures.
H.
Protect young Village residents from the unregulated and unknown
effects of electronic cigarettes, herbal cigarettes, and other age-restricted
products.
I.
Act in furtherance of a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention which recommended that states and communities
work to limit where and how e-cigarettes are sold.
J.
Respond to findings made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
that e-cigarette use among teens tripled between 2013 and 2014, and
from 2011 to 2015, and the use of e-cigarettes increased nearly 10
times for high schoolers. E-cigarettes are now the primary form of
tobacco use amongst teens. Furthermore, after e-cigarettes and cigarettes,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that hookah
tobacco is the third most popular form of tobacco used by middle schoolers.
K.
Respond to findings made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
which prepared a report entitled "Tobacco Use Among Middle and High
School Students — United States, 2011-2015" concluding that:
(1)
Electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) use among teens has surged
in recent years and now stands at 16% among high school students.
ENDS is the most commonly used tobacco product among high school students;
and
(2)
In 2015, 8.6% of high school students were current cigar smokers;
11.5% of boys and 5.6% of girls. High school boys smoke cigars at
a higher rate than cigarettes.
L.
Respond to findings that e-cigarettes and similar devices pose health
hazards and may contribute to youth smoking and reduced cessation,
regardless of nicotine content, since the devices contain or produce
chemicals other than nicotine known to be toxic, carcinogenic and
causative of respiratory and heart distress. E-cigarettes and similar
devices look identical whether they contain nicotine or not, and,
as a result, their use not only normalizes e-cigarette use but also
renormalizes tobacco addiction and use of tobacco products, like combustible
cigarettes.
M.
Protect young Village residents from smokeless tobacco products,
which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
are known to cause lung, larynx, esophageal, and oral and pancreatic
cancers. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a dip
of smokeless tobacco typically contains three to five times more nicotine
than a cigarette. Research shows that smokers have difficulty switching
from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco, resulting in many users becoming
dual users of both cigarettes and smokeless products.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, the following terms shall,
for the purpose of this article, have the meanings indicated in this
section. Words used in the present tense include the future; words
used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter; the
singular number includes the plural, and the plural, the singular.
Where terms are not defined in this chapter, then the words as defined
in New York State Public Health Law Article 13-F shall prevail; and
if the term is not defined in either, then the word as defined in
the most-current edition of Webster's Dictionary shall prevail.
Any product that is intended or reasonably expected to be used
with or for the human consumption of a tobacco product; does not contain
tobacco and is not made or derived from tobacco; and meets either
of the following:
Is not intended or reasonably expected to affect or alter the
performance, composition, constituents, or characteristics of a tobacco
product; or
Is intended or reasonably expected to affect or maintain the
performance, composition, constituents, or characteristics of a tobacco
product, but:
Accessory includes, but is not limited to, carrying cases, lanyards
and holsters.
An electronic device that, when activated, produces an aerosol
that may be inhaled, whether or not such aerosol contains nicotine.
"Electronic aerosol delivery system" includes any component or part,
but not accessory, and any liquid or other substance to be aerosolized,
whether or not separately sold. "Electronic aerosol delivery system"
does not include drugs, devices, or combination products authorized
for sale by the state or United States Food and Drug Administration,
as those terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic
Act.
Any police officer, building official, code enforcement officer,
inspector, county health inspector or other employee of the Village
authorized to enforce this chapter.
Any product made primarily of tobacco or other leaf or herbs,
or any combination thereof, smoked or intended to be smoked in a hookah
or water pipe.
Any pipe, water pipe, hookah, rolling papers, vaporizer or
any other device, equipment or apparatus designed for the inhalation
of tobacco;
Any product made or derived from tobacco, or which contains
nicotine, marketed or sold for human consumption, whether consumption
occurs through inhalation or oral or dermal absorption, including
cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, powdered tobacco, bidis, gutka,
other tobacco products, and nicotine water. "Tobacco product" does
not include drugs, devices, or combination products authorized for
sale by the state or United States Food and Drug Administration, as
those terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The Incorporated Village of Flower Hill.
A.
No person shall sell or permit the sale of age-restricted products
to any person under the age of 21.
B.
The identification requirements contained in New York State Public
Health Law Article 13-F, § 1399-cc(3), as the same may be
amended from time to time, are hereby incorporated into this article
by reference, except that the age to be proven by such identification
shall be 21.
C.
Age-restricted products may not be sold in vending machines located
in the Village.
D.
No person operating a place of business, wherein age-restricted products
are sold or offered for sale, shall sell, permit to be sold, offer
for sale or display for sale any age-restricted product in any manner,
unless such age-restricted product is stored for sale behind a counter
in an area accessible only to the personnel of such business, or in
a locked container; provided, however, that such restriction shall
not apply to tobacco businesses as defined in Subdivision 8 of § 1399-aa
of New York State Public Health Law, Article 13-F, as the same may
be amended from time to time, and to places to which admission is
restricted to persons 21 years of age or older.
A.
No person shall sell or permit the sale of an age-restricted product
in the Village unless a notice is posted in a conspicuous place at
the location where the age-restricted product is sold.
B.
The sign shall provide notice, which shall state: "SALE OF CIGARETTES,
CIGARS, CHEWING TOBACCO, POWDERED TOBACCO, SHISHA, BIDIS, GUTKA OR
OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS, HERBAL CIGARETTES, LIQUID NICOTINE, ELECTRONIC
CIGARETTES, ROLLING PAPERS, OR SMOKING PARAPHERNALIA, TO PERSONS UNDER
21 YEARS OF AGE, IS PROHIBITED BY LOCAL LAW."
C.
Such sign shall be printed on a white card in red letters at least
1/2 inch in height. Signs shall be protected from tampering, damage,
removal, or concealment.
A.
The enforcement officer is charged with ensuring compliance with
this article.
B.
The enforcement officer shall be authorized to serve official notices
of violation of this article.
C.
For a violation of this article:
(1)
The enforcement officer may issue and serve upon the person complained
against, a written notice. Service of such notice shall be deemed
complete upon personal delivery or, if delivered by certified first-class
mail, after three days in Nassau County or its adjoining counties,
or five days for other locations;
(2)
The notice shall specify the provision(s) of this article of which
such person is alleged to be in violation, accompanied by a statement
of the manner in which that person is alleged to have violated it,
and shall require the person so complained against to answer the charges
of such notice at a public hearing before the Board of Trustees or
its designee, at a specified location, date, and time, not fewer than
15 days after the date of service of the notice;
(3)
Notwithstanding the above, the Board of Trustees or its designee
may, at its or the designee's sole discretion, offer a proposed
stipulation to the person complained against, in which case the person
complained against will have the option of executing the proposed
stipulation within any time frame specified or proceeding with a formal
hearing;
(4)
When the Board of Trustees or its designee determines after a hearing that a violation of this article has occurred, a civil penalty may be imposed by the Board of Trustees or its designee pursuant to § 215-6 of this article;
(5)
Nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting the Village Attorney
or his or her designee from commencing a proceeding for injunctive
relief to compel compliance with this article;
(6)
Any person who desires to register a complaint under this article
may do so through the enforcement officer;
(7)
The decision of the Board of Trustees or its designee shall be reviewable
pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules; and
Violation of any provision of this article shall be punishable
by a civil penalty in an amount determined by the Board of Trustees
or its designee, within the parameters of the minimum and maximum
penalties set forth in New York State Public Health Law § 1399-ee(2),
as the same may be amended from time to time.
