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No More Free Smokes in California

Governor signs law outlawing free samples and other cigarette giveaways

October 12, 2007

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Many states and cities have cracked down on smoking in public. Now California has made it illegal to give cigarettes away.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday signed Assembly Bill 1585, a bill authored by Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Sally Lieber (D-San Jose), which outlaws the use of gift certificates, gift cards, and similar offers that allow cigarette companies to distribute free samples.

“We have succeeded in closing a loophole that tobacco companies use to expand free access to their dangerous products,” said Assemblywoman Lieber. “We have a responsibility to Californians to put roadblocks in the way of new addictions, especially among young people.”

AB 1585 prohibits the use of coupons, gift certificates, gift-cards and similar offers, credits, and proofs-of-purchase in California by including these forms of advertising in the definition of ‘non-sale distribution’ of tobacco products.

In addition, the bill clarifies that tobacco companies that engage in non-sale distribution by mail must verify that the recipient of the product is 18 years of age or older.

Existing law restricts tobacco product give-aways at public places and events; however, the use of these certificates and lack of an age verification mechanism, provide a loophole for tobacco companies. California joins Massachusetts as the only other state to outlaw these sample offers.

This change in the law is supported by the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Lung Association.

"We support this bill because the tobacco industry disperses gift certificates and coupons as a way to get around the ban on free tobacco sampling," says Tim Gibbs, spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. "The distribution of gift certificates and coupons is an insidious way to hook our state's youth into a deadly addiction."

Despite aggressive anti-tobacco campaigns, high school smoking in California increased from 13.2% in 2004 to 15.4 % in 2006, and middle school smoking increased from 3.9 % to 6.1%.

Some communities report that in up to 25% of attempted tobacco transactions with minors, the minor’s ID is not checked. Offers for free tobacco samples, such as the gift certificates proposed to be banned, are particularly attractive to teens without an independent income source; they are yet another method for youth to obtain tobacco products.

The age verification provision in this bill helps ensure that tobacco companies will not send samples or sample offers to underage individuals.

Smoking costs more than $15 billion each year to the state’s economy and healthcare system. More than 40,000 people die in California from smoking-related diseases each year.

The new law will take effect on January 1, 2008.

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