Bill Text: NJ AR119 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges enactment of "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health Committee [AR119 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-AR119-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY J. PINKIN
District 18 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Urges enactment of "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution urging the United States Congress to enact the "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019."
Whereas, Tobacco product use starts and is established primarily during adolescence. Nearly nine out of 10 adults who smoke, first start using tobacco products by the age of 18; and
Whereas, Each day in the United State, about 2,000 youth under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette, and more than 300 of those youth become daily cigarette smokers. Each year in New Jersey, approximately 3,000 youth under the age of 18 become smokers; and
Whereas, According to the federal Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2017 and 2018, there was a forty-eight percent increase in electronic cigarette use by middle school students, and a seventy-eight percent increase among high school students; and
Whereas, Flavoring in tobacco products can make tobacco use more appealing to youth. In 2014, seventy-three percent of high school students and fifty-six percent of middle school students who used tobacco products reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time; and
Whereas, The recent increase in the use of electronic cigarettes is driving increases in tobacco product use among young people; and
Whereas, The number of middle and high school students using electronic cigarettes rose from 2.1 million in 2017 to 3.6 million in 2018- a difference of about 1.5 million youth; and
Whereas, In 2018, nearly one in every 20 middle school students (4.9 percent) and nearly one in every five high school students (20.8 percent) reported they used electronic cigarettes; and
Whereas, During the same time period, cigarette smoking among middle and high school students decreased; and
Whereas, In 2018, one in every 50 middle school students (1.8 percent) and two in 25 high school students (8.1 percent) reported they smoked cigarettes; and
Whereas, Although the use of cigarettes has decreased among youth in the United States, many use multiple tobacco products, including cigars smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco; and
Whereas, Young people who use two or more tobacco products are at a higher risk of developing nicotine dependence and continuing the use of tobacco products into adulthood; and
Whereas, In April of 2019, Representative Frank Pallone Jr. (New Jersey) introduced the "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019" (H.R.2339);" and
Whereas, The federal legislation: prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products that appeal to youth, including flavored electronic cigarettes, flavored cigars, and menthol cigarettes; raises the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 years of age; prohibits the online sales of tobacco products; and extends the marketing restrictions the Food and Drug Administration currently applies to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to all tobacco products; and
Whereas, National, state, and local program activities have been shown to reduce and prevent youth tobacco product use; and
Whereas, The enactment of the "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019" (H.R.2339) would address the current youth electronic cigarette epidemic threatening to undermine the progress that has been made in reducing youth cigarette use, and would reduce and prevent youth from using other tobacco products; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House respectfully urges the enactment of the "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019" (H.R.2339) in order to address the current youth electronic cigarette epidemic threatening to undermine the progress that has been made in reducing youth cigarette use, and to reduce and prevent youth from using other tobacco products.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the Assembly General to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and every member of the New Jersey Congressional delegation.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the enactment of the "Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019" (H.R.2339) in order to address the current youth electronic cigarette epidemic threatening to undermine the progress that has been made in reducing youth cigarette use, and to reduce and prevent youth from using other tobacco products.
