teenage smoking – Sandy Rosenberg

Reducing smoking has been one of my priorities throughout my career..

Especially among younger people.

Stronger regulation of the sale and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products by Maryland’s counties and Baltimore City would be permitted by my legislation, House Bill 732.

A lobbyist for the tobacco industry wrote the members of the committee that my legislation would “adversely affect the raising and collection of tobacco product excise and sales tax.”

“That’s our goal,” I testified in response.

“Our tax policy for tobacco products is unique”, I continued. “We are using the revenue generated by this tax to persuade consumers from using this product.”

Especially among younger people.

Two of my bills passed the House today, 129-0.

Two of my bills won’t come to the House floor.

I withdrew them because they don’t need to become law to further the policy objective that prompted me to introduce them.

The tobacco industry continues to woo young smokers. The State should do more to counter these activities.

House Bill 1030 would have required the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to report to the legislature on how best to implement the Surgeon General’s recommendations on reducing smoking among this population.

I explained the bill to a high ranking department official, who then drafted a letter that the Secretary signed, pledging to study this issue and report back to us by November 1.

Home values have dropped precipitously across the state since the bubble burst in 2008. Countless owner-occupied communities have been negatively affected.

House Bill 1078 would have created a task force to study this problem. An existing commission will be asked to do so instead.