Rowe seeks stricter tobacco delivery law
Rowe seeks stricter tobacco delivery law
May 23, 2006
AUGUSTA - Maine's attorney general called for congressional action Monday after the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a ruling that invalidated a significant portion of a 2003 state law aimed at preventing youth access to tobacco from Internet and mail-order sales.
A three-judge panel of the appellate court in Boston on Friday agreed with a federal judge in Maine and ruled that Maine's law interfered with timely delivery procedures by private delivery firms such as United Parcel Service.
Attorney General Steven Rowe is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, his spokesman Chuck Dow said Monday.
Rowe also may ask the 1st Circuit to reconsider the case "en banc," in which all six 1st Circuit Court judges would review the decision.
While pursuing the matter in court, the state has negotiated agreements with major commercial carriers and major credit card firms that they would not deliver tobacco products to minors or process Internet sales of tobacco products to youth.
The U.S. Postal Service, however, is not barred from delivering tobacco products to minors.
Rowe has urged U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to reform the postal laws to prohibit the delivery of tobacco products to minors, Dow said Monday.
"After enactments of the state statutes, and voluntary agreements by carriers and credit card companies, it is ironic indeed that the USPS serves as the last remaining channel for the delivery of cigarettes to minors," he said in a letter to Collins. "Due to the other carriers' refusal to serve as conduits for delivery, the delivery of cigarettes to minors by the USPS will undoubtedly continue to increase."
Collins has said that she would look into the matter and consider introducing legislation to address the problem.
The Maine law ruled unconstitutional by the 1st Circuit applied only to private carriers. It required procedures to verify that those who purchased tobacco by mail for delivery were old enough to do so.
The statute was designed to prevent youths from ordering cigarettes online and also to assist the state in collecting taxes that otherwise would be unpaid.
U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby ruled a year ago that while Maine's statute was well intentioned, it ran afoul of federal interstate commerce law by impeding delivery service.
Under the law, the person to whom the tobacco products were addressed must be at least 18 years old and must sign for the package. If the buyer was under 27, a government-issued identification had been shown at the time of delivery.
After the law was enacted, UPS announced that it would no longer make consumer tobacco deliveries in Maine, even to adults. Members of regional transport associations joined UPS in challenging the law in federal court.
The state argued before Hornby that the law simply held on-line sellers to the same standards as store clerks who sell tobacco.
The judge found that the state could regulate contraband only if it does not "significantly affect a carrier's prices, routes or services."
Maine is one of 16 states that have passed laws restricting home-delivery tobacco sales.
Maine: State appeals Tobacco Delivery Law ruling
7-23-05
AUGUSTA - Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe said Friday that he has appealed a federal judge's decision that invalidated a significant portion of a 2003 state law aimed at preventing youth access to tobacco from Internet and mail-order sales.
Maine's law required procedures to verify that those who purchase tobacco by mail are old enough to do so. It was designed in part to prevent youths from ordering cigarettes online and also to assist the state in collecting taxes that would otherwise be unpaid.
U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby said that while Maine's statute was well-intentioned, it ran afoul of federal interstate commerce laws by impeding delivery services.
Rowe disagreed with Hornby's conclusion.
"We believe that the states have well-established powers to adopt laws that keep youth from smoking," Rowe said Friday. "While we would welcome a federal law that accomplished the same goals as the Maine law, we do not believe that the people of Maine should have to wait for Congress to muster the courage to enact similar legislation."
Maine is one of 16 states that have passed laws restricting home delivery tobacco sales.
Under the Maine law, the person to whom the tobacco products are addressed must be at least 18 years old and must sign for the package. If the buyer is under 27, a government-issued identification must be shown at the time of delivery.
After the law was enacted, UPS announced it would no longer make consumer tobacco deliveries in Maine. UPS was joined by members of regional motor transport associations in challenging the law in U.S. District Court.
On May 27, Hornby ruled that states can regulate contraband only if it does not "significantly affect a carrier's prices, routes or services."
His ruling traced federal pre-emption of interstate commerce to an 1887 law. While Congress has written into the law some areas that are exempt from federal pre-emption, the Maine Tobacco Delivery Law "fits none of the exemptions," the judge wrote.
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