Lawmakers consider escalating fines for minors caught smoking

Thursday, March 1, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY - If Nevada is serious about discouraging minors from smoking, it's time to start punishing the young puffers, not just those who sell them tobacco products, some state senators say.

Current law sets fines of up to $500 for anyone who sells cigarettes or tobacco to minors, but underage smokers themselves face no penalty.

"It's a rule now that for breaking it, there is absolutely no consequence," said Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City .

Sen. Mike McGinness, R-Fallon, wants to change that, and has proposed a series of escalating fines that - under a kind of four-puffs-and-you're-out policy - also could send young smokers to court.

Under McGinness' proposal, those younger than 18 caught smoking or in the possession of tobacco would be fined $10 for the first offense, $20 for a second offense and $30 for a third offense. For a fourth offense, youths would be referred to Juvenile Court, where they could be sentenced to perform community service or compelled to attend classes to help them stop smoking.

Amodei called the proposed penalties a "bargain." In California, he said, a teen can lose his driver's license, be fined $75 and be required to perform community service.

McGinness conceded that Nevada is "coming late to the table" in trying to find a solution. At least 35 states have laws that restrict juvenile smoking.

Amodei, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said a majority of the seven-member panel is committed "not to have the status quo." The panel has yet to decide, though, how far it wants to go in changing the law.

Amodei said he prefers a law that would not build a "whole new juvenile probation empire, but has a consequence for breaking the law."

He questioned, however, McGinness' suggestion of modest fines.

"I can see law enforcement people saying, 'That isn't worth my time ... to write the ticket,' " Amodei said. "We don't want to be the most draconian, but $10, $20 and $30 - I can't imagine anybody getting excited about doing anything about that."

Under the bill, Juvenile Courts could order youths to perform community service, suspend their driver's license or require them to attend counseling.

After court officers expressed concern at an earlier hearing that the measure could overwhelm them with underage smoking cases, McGinness reworked his bill to call for citations and fines for the first three offenses.

"We have to do something to get their attention," McGinness said.