A.
The Putnam County Legislature hereby finds as follows:
(1)
Approximately 96% of smokers begin smoking before age 21 with most beginning before age 16. Smokers frequently transition from experimentation to addiction between the ages of 18 and 21; and
(2)
Youth get their cigarettes from social sources, most of whom are peers aged 18 to 21. Today, there are more eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds in high school than in past years, thus, permitting tobacco product sales to eighteen- or nineteen-year-olds no longer makes sense; and
(3)
Few twenty-one-year-olds travel within high school social circles; thus, raising the minimum consumer age for tobacco product sales to age 21 will effectively remove this critical source of tobacco, thereby delaying or preventing smoking initiation; and
(4)
Evidence shows the younger the age of initiation, the greater the risk of nicotine addiction, heavy daily smoking, and difficulty quitting; and
(5)
Adolescents are particularly susceptible to the "rewarding" effects of nicotine. In fact, nicotine addiction, which can develop at low levels of exposure, well before established daily smoking, causes three out of four young smokers to continue smoking into adulthood, even if they intended to quit after a few years; and
(6)
Findings by the New York State Department of Health confirm that electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), which heat a solution of liquid nicotine flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that is inhaled, are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in New York. In fact, e-cigarette use among New York youth doubled from 2014 to 2016 and is now triple the rate of e-cigarette use among New York adults; and
(7)
E-cigarette use does not prevent or "protect" youth from smoking. Most of the e-liquids used in e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the highly addictive compound in all tobacco products that is not harmless and may be particularly problematic to young people; and
(8)
Recent studies indicate that the brain continues to develop until approximately age 25, particularly in ways that affect impulsivity, addiction and decision making; and
(9)
Delaying smoking initiation reduces the likelihood of ever starting, reduces the number of regular smokers, and lessens the immediate, mid-and long-term health effects of smoking to an individual.
B.
Therefore, the Putnam County Legislature declares the intent and purpose of this article is to improve the public health and well-being of the County's youth, such that it is necessary to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to an individual under 21 years of age and, in turn, prevent young adults from becoming addicted adult smokers and avoid the associated serious health consequences that follow.
C.
Unless otherwise noted herein, Article 13-F of the New York State Public Health Law shall apply.