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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7007
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3487
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT PROHIBITING THE SALE OF ENERGY DRINKS TO PER SONS
UNDER SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Cardholder" means any person who presents a motor vehicle 2
operator's license or identity card to a seller or seller's agent or 3
employee; 4
(2) "Dealer" means any person who is engaged in this state in the 5
business of selling energy drinks to retail consumers; 6
(3) "Deliver" or "delivery" means an act done intentionally by any 7
person, whether as principle, proprietor, agent, servant or employee, 8
of transferring or offering or attempting to transfer, physical 9
possession or control of one or more energy drinks; 10
(4) "Energy drink" means a soft drink that contains (A) not less than 11
eighty milligrams of caffeine per nine fluid ounces, and (B) 12
methylxanthines, B vitamins or herbal ingredients; 13 Raised Bill No. 7007
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(5) "Give" or "giving" means an act done intentionally by any 14
person, whether done as principle, proprietor, agent, servant or 15
employee, of transferring or offering or attempting to transfer without 16
consideration one or more energy drinks; 17
(6) "Identity card" means an identification card issued pursuant to 18
section 1-1h of the general statutes; 19
(7) "Proper proof" means a motor vehicle operator's license, valid 20
passport or identity card; 21
(8) "Sale" or "sell" means an act done intentionally by any person, 22
whether done as principle, proprietor, agent, servant or employee, of 23
transferring or offering or attempting to transfer, for consideration, one 24
or more energy drinks, including bartering or exchanging or offering 25
to barter or exchange, one or more energy drinks; 26
(9) "Transaction scan" means the process by which a seller or seller's 27
agent or employee checks, by means of a transaction scan device, the 28
validity of a motor vehicle operator's license or identity card; and 29
(10) "Transaction scan device" means any commercial device or 30
combination of devices used at a point of sale that is capable of 31
deciphering in an electronically readable format the information 32
encoded on the magnetic strip or bar code of a motor vehicle operator's 33
license or identity card. 34
(b) On and after January 1, 2020, any person who sells, gives or 35
delivers an energy drink to any person under sixteen years of age shall 36
be fined not more than two hundred dollars for the first offense, not 37
more than three hundred fifty dollars for the second offense within a 38
twenty-four-month period and not more than five hundred dollars for 39
each subsequent offense within a twenty-four-month period. The 40
provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a person under sixteen 41
years of age who is delivering or accepting delivery of one or more 42
energy drinks (1) in such person's capacity as an employee, or (2) as 43
part of a scientific study being conducted by an organization for the 44 Raised Bill No. 7007
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purpose of medical research to further efforts to understand the effects 45
of energy drinks on the body, provided such medical research has 46
been approved by the organization's institutional review board, as 47
defined in section 21a-408 of the general statutes. 48
(c) On and after January 1, 2020, each seller of energy drinks or such 49
seller's agent or employee shall require a person who is purchasing or 50
attempting to purchase one or more energy drinks, whose age is in 51
question, to exhibit proper proof of age. If a person fails to provide 52
such proof, such seller or seller's agent or employee shall not sell an 53
energy drink to the person. 54
(d) (1) On and after January 1, 2020, a seller or seller's agent or 55
employee may perform a transaction scan to check the validity of a 56
motor vehicle operator's license or identity card presented by a 57
cardholder as a condition for selling, giving or delivering an energy 58
drink to the cardholder. 59
(2) If the information deciphered by the transaction scan performed 60
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection fails to match the 61
information printed on the motor vehicle operator's license or identity 62
card presented by the cardholder or the transaction scan indicates that 63
the printed information is false or fraudulent, neither the seller nor 64
seller's agent or employee shall sell, give or deliver an energy drink to 65
the cardholder. 66
(3) Subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not preclude a seller or 67
seller's agent or employee from using a transaction scan device to 68
check the validity of a document other than a motor vehicle operator's 69
license or identity card if the document includes a bar code or 70
magnetic strip that may be scanned by the device, as a condition for 71
selling, giving or delivering one or more energy drinks. 72
(e) (1) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall record or 73
maintain any information derived from a transaction scan, except the 74
name and date of birth of the person listed on the motor vehicle 75
operator's license or identity card presented by a cardholder and the 76 Raised Bill No. 7007
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expiration date and identification number of the motor vehicle 77
operator's license or identity card presented by a cardholder. 78
(2) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall use a transaction 79
scan device for a purpose other than those specified in subsection (c) of 80
section 30-86 of the general statutes, subsection (d) of section 53-344 of 81
the general statutes, subsection (e) of section 53-344b of the general 82
statutes, as amended by this act, and subsection (d) of this section. 83
(3) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall sell or otherwise 84
disseminate the information derived from a transaction scan to any 85
third party, including, but not limited to, selling or otherwise 86
disseminating that information for any marketing, advertising or 87
promotional activities, except that a seller or seller's agent or employee 88
may release such information pursuant to a court order. 89
(4) Nothing in subsection (d) of this section relieves a seller or 90
seller's agent or employee of any responsibility to comply with 91
applicable state and federal laws and rules governing the sale, giving 92
or delivering of energy drinks. 93
(5) Any person who violates this subsection shall be subject to a civil 94
penalty of not more than one thousand dollars. 95
(f) (1) In any prosecution of a seller or seller's agent or employee for 96
a violation of subsection (b) of this section, it shall be an affirmative 97
defense that the following occurred: (A) A cardholder attempting to 98
purchase or receive one or more energy drinks presented a motor 99
vehicle operator's license or identity card; (B) a transaction scan of the 100
motor vehicle operator's license or identity card indicated that the 101
license or card was valid; and (C) one or more energy drinks was sold, 102
given or delivered to the cardholder in reasonable reliance upon the 103
identification presented and the completed transaction scan. 104
(2) In determining whether a seller or seller's agent or employee has 105
proven the affirmative defense provided by subdivision (1) of this 106
subsection, the trier of fact in such prosecution shall consider that 107 Raised Bill No. 7007
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reasonable reliance upon the identification presented and the 108
completed transaction scan may require a seller or seller's agent or 109
employee to exercise reasonable diligence and that the use of a 110
transaction scan device does not excuse a seller or seller's agent or 111
employee from exercising such reasonable diligence to determine 112
whether the cardholder is sixteen years of age or older and the 113
description and picture appearing on the motor vehicle operator's 114
license or identity card presented by the cardholder is that of the 115
cardholder. 116
(g) (1) On and after January 1, 2020, each dealer shall place and 117
maintain in legible condition at each point of sale of energy drinks to 118
consumers, including the front of each vending machine containing 119
energy drinks, a notice which states that the sale, giving or delivering 120
of energy drinks to any person under sixteen years of age is prohibited 121
by this section. 122
(2) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection may investigate any 123
alleged violation of the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection 124
and, if there appears to be reasonable cause therefor, on reasonable 125
notice to any dealer accused of any such violation, may make 126
complaint to the prosecuting authority having jurisdiction of any such 127
complaint or may, after notice and a hearing as provided in section 20-128
321 of the general statutes, fine a dealer who violates subdivision (1) of 129
this subsection one hundred dollars per violation. Each day a dealer 130
fails to post a notice in violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection 131
shall be a separate violation. 132
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) Not later than January 1, 2020, 133
the Commissioner of Public Health shall publish information 134
concerning the dangers of energy drink consumption on the Internet 135
web site of the Department of Public Health. 136
Sec. 3. Subdivision (2) of subsection (d) of section 30-86 of the 137
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 138
thereof (Effective January 1, 2020): 139 Raised Bill No. 7007
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(2) No permittee or permittee's agent or employee shall use a 140
transaction scan device for a purpose other than the purposes specified 141
in subsection (c) of this section, subsection (d) of section 53-344, [or] 142
subsection (e) of section 53-344b, as amended by this act, or subsection 143
(d) of section 1 of this act. 144
Sec. 4. Subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 53-344 of the 145
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 146
thereof (Effective January 1, 2020): 147
(2) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall use a transaction 148
scan device for a purpose other than the purposes specified in 149
subsection (e) of section 53-344b, as amended by this act, subsection (d) 150
of this section, [or] subsection (c) of section 30-86 or subsection (d) of 151
section 1 of this act. 152
Sec. 5. Subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 53-344b of the 153
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 154
thereof (Effective January 1, 2020): 155
(2) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall use a transaction 156
scan device for a purpose other than the purposes specified in 157
subsection (d) of this section, subsection (d) of section 53-344, [or] 158
subsection (c) of section 30-86 or subsection (d) of section 1 of this act. 159
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 3 January 1, 2020 30-86(d)(2)
Sec. 4 January 1, 2020 53-344(e)(2)
Sec. 5 January 1, 2020 53-344b(e)(2)
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit the sale, giving or delivering of energy drinks to persons
under the age of sixteen and require the Commissioner of Public
Health to publish information concerning the dangers of energy drink Raised Bill No. 7007
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consumption on the Internet web site of the Department of Public
Health.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]