This is a syndicated post, which originally appeared at CASAA. View original post.
Oklahoma: Bill to Tax E-Cigarette Sales, Impose Licensing Restrictions and Essentially Prohibit Online Sales — SB 802
[full text of SB 802] [legislative tracking]
If enacted, this bill would:
- Ban e-cigarette sales to minors, but would also…
- Tax sales of “vapor products” (e-cigarettes) and “tobacco-derived products” (e-liquid, cartridges, and cartomizers containing nicotine) at 5-10 cents per sale.
- Require e-cigarette retailers to obtain a license to sell tobacco products and abide by 30+ pages of regulations governing how tobacco products are sold.
- Make it a criminal offense for consumers to buy e-cigarettes online
As introduced by Senator Rob Johnson, SB 802 was 4 pages long and did not mention e-cigarettes once. Without informing e-cigarette consumers and retailers, Senator Johnson introduced a 34-page substitute bill that would apply nearly every Oklahoma law regarding the sale of cigarettes to the sale of “vapor products” and “tobacco-derived products.”
Worse, Senator Johnson has been spreading lies and misinformation about e-cigarettes. For example, has claimed that the reason e-cigarettes are sold in malls is to attract children.
Because Senator Johnson’s first version of SB 802 would not have impacted e-cigarettes, CASAA did not become aware of SB 802 until after it had already passed the Oklahoma Senate. It is now awaiting a hearing before the Oklahoma House Public Health Committee.
If you may be able to testify against this bill when it gets a committee hearing in Oklahoma City, OK, please email us at board@casaa.org.
Please call or write members of the House Public Health Committee below
1. Inform them that while you support banning e-cigarette sales to minors, SB 802 goes too far by taxing e-cigarettes, mandating retailer licensing, and prohibiting consumers from buying e-cigarettes online.
2. Tell your story on how switching to an e-cigarette has changed your life.
3. Explain that a bill banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors can be accomplished in a 2 page bill, and that the vast majority of SB 802 is unnecessary and will have unintended consequences on Oklahoma-based small businesses and Oklahoma e-cigarette users.
4. Suggest that instead of taxing e-cigarettes and nicotine-containing products, the Public Health Committee instead amend Oklahoma’s tax statutes to make clear that there is to be NO tax imposed on these products.
5. Note that the citizens of Oklahoma do not support new taxes and burdensome regulations. Further explain that imposing such wide-ranging laws on e-cigarette sales only serves to protect cigarette markets and will hurt small businesses in Oklahoma.
6. Explain that there is no evidence that any significant number of youth are using e-cigarettes, let alone buying them on the Internet. A recent survey of 228 adolescents that was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health did not find a single nonsmoking youth who had even tried an e-cigarette.
7. Inform them that SB 802 would not only require e-cigarette sellers to obtain a license to sell tobacco, but would also mandate that the only buy their products from an Oklahoma-based distributor or wholesaler. This provision would impact the availability of hundreds of speciality e-cigarette products, as there are no Oklahoma businesses wholesaling these products.
8. Direct them to the CASAA.org website for more information.
House Committee on Public Health — Who to Contact
Rep. John Enns (Chairman) (R) 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 434
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7321
Email: john.enns@okhouse.gov
Rep. David Derby (Vice Chair) (R)
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 408
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7377
Email: david.derby@okhouse.gov
Rep. Ed Cannaday (D)
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 546
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7375
Email: ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov
Rep. Doug Cox (R)
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 331
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7415
Email: dougcox@okhouse.gov
Rep. Randy Grau (R)
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 537A
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7360
Email: randy.grau@okhouse.gov
Rep. Jadine Nollan (R)
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 329A
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7390
Email: jadine.nollan@okhouse.gov
Rep. Mike Ritze (R)
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 303A
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7338
Email: mike.ritze@okhouse.gov
Rep. Sean Roberts (R)
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 537B
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7322
Email: sean.roberts@okhouse.gov
Rep. Colby Schwartz
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.
Room 407
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 557-7352
Email: colby.schwartz@okhouse.gov
Comma delimited list:
john.enns@okhouse.gov, david.derby@okhouse.gov, ed.cannaday@okhouse.gov, dougcox@okhouse.gov, randy.grau@okhouse.gov, jadine.nollan@okhouse.gov, mike.ritze@okhouse.gov, sean.roberts@okhouse.gov, colby.schwartz@okhouse.gov
