FC: Rep. Meehan wants to ban kids from buying smokes online

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Meehan's previous effort in the area:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d106:h.r.02914:
  No person shall make a sale of tobacco products to an individual under
  the age of 18 using the Internet or the Postal Service or other
  carrier and no person shall ship in interstate commerce tobacco
  products which have been so sold.

---

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ma05_meehan/NR121001InternetTobacco.html

     Meehan Introduces Bill to Prevent Sale of Tobacco to Minors on the
                                  Internet
   
                             DECEMBER 10, 2001
                                         
   WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Representative Marty Meehan (D-MA) today
   introduced legislation, The Tobacco Free Internet for Kids Act (H.R.
   2914) to prohibit and prevent the Internet sale of tobacco products to
   minors.  A study on adolescent Internet cigarette purchases contained
   in the latest issue of the Journal of Tobacco Control highlights the
   need for Meehans legislation.
   
   According to a study released today in the Journal of Tobacco Control
   titled, Are adolescents attempting to buy cigarettes on the Internet?
   by Jennifer B. Unger, Louise Ann Rohrbach, and Kurt M. Ribisi, minors
   can easily purchase cigarettes from Internet vendors.  A survey of
   minors who purchased cigarettes from Internet vendors revealed that
   fewer than 25 percent of these vendors asked minors for identification
   or refused to sell them cigarettes in the past month.  94 percent of
   these minors reported that it would be easy or very easy for them to
   obtain a cigarette through the Internet.
   
   Furthermore, the Journal of Tobacco Control study suggested that the
   Internet may become a source of cigarettes for youth as retail access
   becomes increasingly difficult for youth while internet tobacco sales
   remain largely unregulated.  The study also cites sting operations
   conducted by at least 15 states which found that children as young as
   9 years old were easily able to purchase tobacco products from
   Internet vendors.  Working with the office of the Attorney General of
   Massachusetts, Meehan conducted his own Internet tobacco sting
   operation in August of 1999, finding that none of 26 surveyed Internet
   tobacco web-sites asked minors for proof of age.
   
   The Internet is becoming a haven for one-stop, tax-free, no-hassle
   cigarette purchases by minors, said Meehan.  With the point and click
   of a mouse, young people can have cigarettes ferried to their front
   doors.  We need federal legislation to prevent the Internet from
   becoming the loophole that unravels state laws forbidding and
   deterring cigarette purchases by minors.
   
   Meehans bill is a more stringent version of the legislation he
   proposed in the prior Congress aimed at preventing tobacco sales to
   minors through the Internet.  Meehans Tobacco Free Internet for Kids
   Act outlaws Internet tobacco sales to minors and requires Internet
   tobacco vendors to verify the purchasers identity and age prior to
   shipping tobacco products. The bill also mandates placement of a clear
   and conspicuous label on shipped tobacco packages indicating their
   contents and highlighting the federal ban on sales to minors.
   Moreover, the bill requires Internet tobacco vendors to employ methods
   of shipping requiring the purchaser to sign for delivery and show
   photo identification and to post prominent health warning labels and
   warning labels about the illegality of sales to minors on tobacco
   product webpages.
   
   The bill empowers not only federal authorities to enforce its
   provisions but also state Attorneys General - who may seek injunctive
   relief in Federal court to prevent violations.  Upon enactment, the
   Federal Trade Commission would have 90 days to promulgate rules and
   regulations for carrying out the Tobacco Free Internet for Kids Act.
   
   Meehan has long served as the Democratic Co-Chair of the bipartisan
   Congressional Task Force on Tobacco and Health.  In December of 1994,
   he submitted a 111-page prosecution memorandum to the U.S. Department
   of Justice, outlining numerous federal crimes Big Tobacco and its
   executives may have committed.  The Justice Department subsequently
   filed a civil suit against tobacco giants, charging them with
   conspiracy and fraud for collaborating to mislead the public about the
   dangers of smoking.  In September of 2000, the American Heart
   Association presented Meehan with its National Public Service Award in
   recognition of his longstanding commitment to tobacco control.
   
   Congressman Marty Meehan represents the 5th District of Massachusetts.
   He resides in Lowell.
   
###



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