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

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Tue Dec 11 2001 - 09:16:23 PST

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    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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