Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A bill which aims to amend the existing tobacco restriction law by adding more restrictive provisions to hopefully deter our youth and young adults from smoking, was passed in third reading in the Senate yesterday.

Introduced by Senator Magalei Logovi’i, the bill proposes to increase the smoking age from 18 to 21 and comes down hard on local retailers who sell tobacco products, by increasing the annual license fee from $25 per year (an amount which has remained since its creation in 1994), to $300 per year.

“Renewal of a license shall be made before January 1 of each year. A person violates the provisions of this chapter if he sells or distributes tobacco products after January 1 of each year without obtaining a valid license or renewal thereof,” the bill stipulates.

The proposed legislation justifies this and other amendments by stating that “it is critical that we update our Tobacco Restrictive Act to keep up with new and evolving tobacco and nicotine products targeting young people.

“It is still our goal to protect the health and well-being of our youth and young adults from the dangers of tobacco consumption.”

The bill’s Preamble quotes that “the adverse health effects from tobacco use cause more than 480,000 preventable deaths each year in the United States from heart disease, cancer or other smoking-related diseases and costs almost $170 billion each year in direct healthcare expenditures.”

It also provides local statistics compiled in 2022 on the adverse health effects from tobacco use, afflicting the youth of American Samoa.

“From the 2022 American Samoa Statistical Yearbook, heart disease and cancer continue to be one of the top five causes of preventable deaths each year, and have been for the last ten years.

“According to the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) from the Department of Education, which is a biennial survey collected from students across both middle and high schools in American Samoa, 20% of 1,802 survey respondents in grades 6-8 had tried cigarette smoking.

“Nearly 13% of 1,831 survey respondents have used an electronic vapor product (e-cigarette).

“Also according to the YRBS, of 2,091 survey respondents in grades 9-12 (ages 14 to 18 years and older), 31.8% reported that they frequently smoked cigarettes on 20 or more days during the 30 days before the survey and nearly 16% used an electronic vapor product (e-cigarette) on at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey,” the bill’s Preamble revealed.

The bill points out that the aim of increasing the smoking age from 18 to 21 was actually initiated by the federal government on December 20, 2024, when they amended the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act making it illegal for retailers to sell any tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.

Currently, 32 states and the territory of Guam have passed the amended Federal Act known as “Tobacco 21” legislation.

The proposed Senate bill accuses and exposes tobacco companies for not hesitating to make their “tobacco and nicotine products attractive to minors and young adults with their advertisements and displays.

“They add flavors to their products to attract younger and younger individuals. Therefore, we must be just as vigilant in our efforts to curtail their pervasive advertisements and displays for tobacco and nicotine products which would include a ban on all tobacco and nicotine product advertisements and displays.

“The popularity of tobacco products such as e-cigarettes/vape pens that are available in a variety of flavors, has made smoking more appealing to youth. Increasing the legal age to 21 also puts most purchasers outside the social circle of most high school students,” the proposed bill reasoned.

Consequently, the bill prohibits and deems unlawful, the sale of flavored tobacco products other than tobacco and menthol flavors. This includes but is not limited to electronic delivery systems including e-cigarettes, e-liquids, gels, dissolvable, pipe tobacco, dip, snuff, etc.

Violations will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office and will be prosecuted as a class A misdemeanor.

Penalties range from not less than $1,000 for the first violation, not less than $2,000 for the second, not less than $3,500 for the third and $5,000 for each violation in excess of three.

The bill was unanimously passed in third reading during yesterday’s Senate regular session in a vote of 13-0.