BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 2300 By: Lalani Public Health Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The bill author has informed the committee that the use of water pipes, commonly referred to as hookahs, have become a growing public health concern in Texas and that while these devices are traditionally used for tobacco smoking, there is an increasing trend of using alternative, non‑tobacco-based substances that are easily accessible to youth and can be harmful when inhaled. According to the Texas School Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use, nearly one-third of students in grades 7-12 have reported using some form of tobacco, and one-sixth of Texas students are current users. The bill author has further informed the committee that weak age verification practices in hookah lounges and cafes allow underage access to harmful substances, with these venues often misrepresenting themselves as restaurants and social spaces while primarily functioning as hookah bars. H.B. 2300 seeks to reduce the health risks associated with the use of water pipes by prohibiting the sale, distribution, or provision of water pipes to individuals under 21 years of age. CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly does one or more of the following: creates a criminal offense, increases the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or changes the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS H.B. 2300 amends the Health and Safety Code to create the Class C misdemeanor offense of the prohibited sale or use of hookahs to individuals younger than 21 years of age for a person who, with criminal negligence, does the following: sells, gives, or provides for use at a retailer, or causes to be sold, given, or provided for use at a retailer, a hookah to a minor; or sells, gives, provides for use, or causes to be sold, given, or provided for use, a hookah to another person who intends to deliver the hookah to a minor. The bill makes an agent or employee of a retailer in which hookahs are sold at retail or provided for customer use on-site criminally responsible for an offense under the bill's provisions if the offense occurs in connection with a sale by the agent or employee and subjects such an agent or employee to prosecution. H.B. 2300 establishes the following with respect to the bill's provision providing for the conduct constituting that offense that involves a retailer: it is an exception to the application of that provision that the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided is at least 18 years of age and presented at the time of purchase a valid military identification card of the U.S. military forces or the state military forces; and it is a defense to prosecution under that provision that the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided for use presented to the defendant an apparently valid proof of identification. A proof of identification satisfies that provision if it contains a physical description and photograph consistent with the individual's appearance, purports to establish that the individual is 21 years of age or older, and was issued by a governmental agency. Such proof of identification may include a driver's license issued by Texas or another state, a passport, or an identification card issued by a state or the federal government. H.B. 2300 prohibits a person from selling, giving, providing for use at a retailer, or causing to be sold, given, or provided for use at a retailer, a hookah to an individual who is younger than 30 years of age unless the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided presents an apparently valid proof of identification. The bill requires an owner of a retailer to adequately supervise and train the retailer's agents and employees to prevent a violation of that prohibition and establishes that a proof of identification that satisfies the bill's defense to prosecution provisions also satisfies this proof of identification requirement. H.B. 2300 defines the following for purposes of its provisions: "hookah" means a type of water pipe with a long flexible tube for drawing aerosol through water and used to smoke tobacco products, including shisha tobacco products, or non-tobacco products; "minor" means an individual under 21 years of age; and "retailer" means a person who engages in the practice of selling hookahs to consumers and includes a restaurant, bar, or cafe at which a hookah is provided for use by customers on-site, including the owner of a vending machine. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2025.
BILL ANALYSIS
# BILL ANALYSIS
H.B. 2300
By: Lalani
Public Health
Committee Report (Unamended)
H.B. 2300
By: Lalani
Public Health
Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The bill author has informed the committee that the use of water pipes, commonly referred to as hookahs, have become a growing public health concern in Texas and that while these devices are traditionally used for tobacco smoking, there is an increasing trend of using alternative, non‑tobacco-based substances that are easily accessible to youth and can be harmful when inhaled. According to the Texas School Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use, nearly one-third of students in grades 7-12 have reported using some form of tobacco, and one-sixth of Texas students are current users. The bill author has further informed the committee that weak age verification practices in hookah lounges and cafes allow underage access to harmful substances, with these venues often misrepresenting themselves as restaurants and social spaces while primarily functioning as hookah bars. H.B. 2300 seeks to reduce the health risks associated with the use of water pipes by prohibiting the sale, distribution, or provision of water pipes to individuals under 21 years of age.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly does one or more of the following: creates a criminal offense, increases the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or changes the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS H.B. 2300 amends the Health and Safety Code to create the Class C misdemeanor offense of the prohibited sale or use of hookahs to individuals younger than 21 years of age for a person who, with criminal negligence, does the following: sells, gives, or provides for use at a retailer, or causes to be sold, given, or provided for use at a retailer, a hookah to a minor; or sells, gives, provides for use, or causes to be sold, given, or provided for use, a hookah to another person who intends to deliver the hookah to a minor. The bill makes an agent or employee of a retailer in which hookahs are sold at retail or provided for customer use on-site criminally responsible for an offense under the bill's provisions if the offense occurs in connection with a sale by the agent or employee and subjects such an agent or employee to prosecution. H.B. 2300 establishes the following with respect to the bill's provision providing for the conduct constituting that offense that involves a retailer: it is an exception to the application of that provision that the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided is at least 18 years of age and presented at the time of purchase a valid military identification card of the U.S. military forces or the state military forces; and it is a defense to prosecution under that provision that the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided for use presented to the defendant an apparently valid proof of identification. A proof of identification satisfies that provision if it contains a physical description and photograph consistent with the individual's appearance, purports to establish that the individual is 21 years of age or older, and was issued by a governmental agency. Such proof of identification may include a driver's license issued by Texas or another state, a passport, or an identification card issued by a state or the federal government. H.B. 2300 prohibits a person from selling, giving, providing for use at a retailer, or causing to be sold, given, or provided for use at a retailer, a hookah to an individual who is younger than 30 years of age unless the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided presents an apparently valid proof of identification. The bill requires an owner of a retailer to adequately supervise and train the retailer's agents and employees to prevent a violation of that prohibition and establishes that a proof of identification that satisfies the bill's defense to prosecution provisions also satisfies this proof of identification requirement. H.B. 2300 defines the following for purposes of its provisions: "hookah" means a type of water pipe with a long flexible tube for drawing aerosol through water and used to smoke tobacco products, including shisha tobacco products, or non-tobacco products; "minor" means an individual under 21 years of age; and "retailer" means a person who engages in the practice of selling hookahs to consumers and includes a restaurant, bar, or cafe at which a hookah is provided for use by customers on-site, including the owner of a vending machine.
EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2025.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The bill author has informed the committee that the use of water pipes, commonly referred to as hookahs, have become a growing public health concern in Texas and that while these devices are traditionally used for tobacco smoking, there is an increasing trend of using alternative, non‑tobacco-based substances that are easily accessible to youth and can be harmful when inhaled. According to the Texas School Survey of Drug and Alcohol Use, nearly one-third of students in grades 7-12 have reported using some form of tobacco, and one-sixth of Texas students are current users. The bill author has further informed the committee that weak age verification practices in hookah lounges and cafes allow underage access to harmful substances, with these venues often misrepresenting themselves as restaurants and social spaces while primarily functioning as hookah bars. H.B. 2300 seeks to reduce the health risks associated with the use of water pipes by prohibiting the sale, distribution, or provision of water pipes to individuals under 21 years of age.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly does one or more of the following: creates a criminal offense, increases the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or changes the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
H.B. 2300 amends the Health and Safety Code to create the Class C misdemeanor offense of the prohibited sale or use of hookahs to individuals younger than 21 years of age for a person who, with criminal negligence, does the following:
sells, gives, or provides for use at a retailer, or causes to be sold, given, or provided for use at a retailer, a hookah to a minor; or
sells, gives, provides for use, or causes to be sold, given, or provided for use, a hookah to another person who intends to deliver the hookah to a minor.
The bill makes an agent or employee of a retailer in which hookahs are sold at retail or provided for customer use on-site criminally responsible for an offense under the bill's provisions if the offense occurs in connection with a sale by the agent or employee and subjects such an agent or employee to prosecution.
H.B. 2300 establishes the following with respect to the bill's provision providing for the conduct constituting that offense that involves a retailer:
it is an exception to the application of that provision that the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided is at least 18 years of age and presented at the time of purchase a valid military identification card of the U.S. military forces or the state military forces; and
it is a defense to prosecution under that provision that the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided for use presented to the defendant an apparently valid proof of identification.
A proof of identification satisfies that provision if it contains a physical description and photograph consistent with the individual's appearance, purports to establish that the individual is 21 years of age or older, and was issued by a governmental agency. Such proof of identification may include a driver's license issued by Texas or another state, a passport, or an identification card issued by a state or the federal government.
H.B. 2300 prohibits a person from selling, giving, providing for use at a retailer, or causing to be sold, given, or provided for use at a retailer, a hookah to an individual who is younger than 30 years of age unless the individual to whom the hookah was sold, given, or provided presents an apparently valid proof of identification. The bill requires an owner of a retailer to adequately supervise and train the retailer's agents and employees to prevent a violation of that prohibition and establishes that a proof of identification that satisfies the bill's defense to prosecution provisions also satisfies this proof of identification requirement.
H.B. 2300 defines the following for purposes of its provisions:
"hookah" means a type of water pipe with a long flexible tube for drawing aerosol through water and used to smoke tobacco products, including shisha tobacco products, or non-tobacco products;
"minor" means an individual under 21 years of age; and
"retailer" means a person who engages in the practice of selling hookahs to consumers and includes a restaurant, bar, or cafe at which a hookah is provided for use by customers on-site, including the owner of a vending machine.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2025.