Town of Simsbury, CT Tobacco and Drugs

No person shall sell, give, deliver or otherwise transfer any tobacco-related equipment or drug-related equipment to any minor under the age of 16 years, provided that such person at the time of such sale, gift, delivery or transfer knows or has reason to know that such tobacco-related equipment will or is likely to be used in the consumption or preparation of any tobacco product or that such drug-related equipment will or is likely to be used in the consumption or preparation of any dependency-producing drug the possession of which is a violation of Connecticut General Statutes Section 21a-279(a), (b) and (c). If any such drug-related equipment has printed thereon or is accompanied by instructions explaining the purpose and use of such equipment and if following such instructions would cause a person to commit an act involving the use or possession of a dependency-producing drug in violation of Connecticut General Statutes Section 21a-279(a), (b) and (c), then the trier of fact may infer that such person knew or had reason to know that such drug-related equipment was to be used or was likely to be used in the consumption of a dependency-producing drug.

§ 144-2 Definitions.

The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and enforcement of this article:

DEPENDENCY-PRODUCING DRUG

Any controlled drug as defined in Connecticut General Statutes Section 21a-240(8) and any controlled substance as defined in Connecticut General Statutes Section 21a-240(9).

DRUG-RELATED EQUIPMENT

Any instrument, apparatus or contrivance, including components, parts and accessories thereof, intended or reasonably adapted to be used for one or more of the following purposes:

The consumption or the preparation of any dependency-producing drug. Consumption shall include smoking and injection.

The enhancement of the effect on the human body of any dependency-producing drug.

The concealment of any quantity of any dependency-producing drug.

The testing of the strength, effectiveness, purity or weight of any dependency-producing drug.

TOBACCO-RELATED EQUIPMENT

Any instrument, apparatus or contrivance, including components, parts and accessories thereof, intended or reasonably adapted for use in the consumption or preparation of any tobacco.

§ 144-3 Exceptions.

No person shall be guilty of violating § 144-1 if:

The person had reasonable cause to believe that the minor involved was 16 years of age or over because such minor exhibited to such person a driver's license, birth certificate or other official document purporting to establish that such minor was 16 years of age or over.

The person was acting in his capacity as an employee or official of any governmental agency or governmental institution or of any public school or other public educational institution or health care facility or institution; or the person was acting in his capacity as a registered pharmacist or veterinarian, or under the direction of a registered pharmacist or veterinarian, to sell said object for a legitimate medical purpose.

§ 144-4 Penalties for offenses.

Any person who violates § 144-1 of this article shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $99.

§ 144-5 Severability; conflict with statutes.

All provisions of the Town ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed, and if for any reason any word, clause, paragraph or section of this article shall be held to make the same unconstitutional, this article shall not thereby be invalidated, and the remainder of the article shall continue in effect. Any provision herein which is in conflict with the Connecticut General Statutes is hereby repealed, it being understood that said statutes shall take precedence over this article.

Article II Sale of Tobacco to Minors

[Adopted 3-23-1987]

§ 144-6 Definitions.

For purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINE

A machine or mechanical device used or intended to be used for the purpose of automatically merchandising packaged cigarettes, the operation of which is governed or controlled by the insertion of coins or tokens.

PERSON

Any individual, firm, fiduciary, partnership, corporation, trust or association.

§ 144-7 Sale prohibited.

No person shall sell cigarettes or tobacco in any form to any person under 18 years of age.

§ 144-8 Sale from vending machines prohibited.

[Amended 1-8-1990; 9-10-2001]

Purpose. The purpose of this section is to prohibit the dispensing of cigarettes, tobacco or smokeless tobacco from cigarette vending machines within the Town of Simsbury.

Statement of findings. The Town of Simsbury finds:

(1)

Sections 53-344 and 53-344a 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

(2)

Cigarettes are the most heavily advertised consumer product in the United States and the tobacco industry spends more than $8.24 billion on advertising and promotion of cigarettes; and

(3)

Connecticut medical costs related to treating smoking related diseases exceeds $1 billion every year; and

(4)

Tobacco kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murder, suicide, drugs and fire combined; and

(5)

More than 3,000,000 young people under the age of 18 consume more than 947 million packs of cigarettes annually in the United States, yielding gross sales to the tobacco industry each year of approximately $1 billion; and

(6)

In Connecticut nearly one of every three high school students and 13% of middle school children used tobacco within the last 30 days; and

(7)

Every year, 12,000 Connecticut children became daily smokers; and

(8)

The average start-smoking age in Connecticut is 11 years old; and

(9)

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

(10)

Connecticut General Statutes § 12-289a(h) authorizes a town or municipality to ban or significantly restrict the placement of vending machines for cigarettes, tobacco or smokeless tobacco products.

Prohibitions. No person shall dispense, or cause to be dispensed, cigarettes, tobacco or smokeless tobacco products from cigarette vending machines at any location within the Town of Simsbury.

§ 144-9 Enforcement.

It shall be the duty of the Director of Health or his designee to enforce the provisions of this article.

§ 144-10 Penalties for offenses.

The penalty for violation of the provisions of this article shall be a fine not to exceed $100.