Utah Legislature: Lawmaker unfazed by threat from tobacco company

SALT LAKE CITY — Nicotine and candy don't mix, no matter what big tobacco thinks or threatens, Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, who has proposed a ban on new nicotine-laced gum and mints, said Friday in response to a threat by a tobacco company to file suit to stop him.

Altria has targeted him for targeting nicotine products in HB71, which has passed the House and is pending in the Senate.

The restrictions on nicotine products and flavored smokeless tobacco are a direct hit to big tobacco's survival and its biggest marketing plan that is designed to get a new generation of tobacco users who have understood more than any previous one the hazards of smoking, Ray said.

"Now they need to try to keep going by doping candy with the most addictive and deadly substance in tobacco," he said. "Utah has made a point of protecting our youth from the hazards of tobacco use, and now that they are targeting a new market with lozenges and mints, we think that's going to far."

The threat to sue the state over HB71, if it passes, is an attempt to scare the Legislature and continue with theirthe strategy of going after kids, although the effort won't find any traction, because states are allowed under federal and state law to ban products it deems dangerous or a threat to the health of its residents.

"We need to protect our children before they get addicted to nicotine," Ray said, "because that will get them addicted to tobacco later in life."

Despite Utah having the smallest number of tobacco users per capita, Ray and a coalition of anti-tobacco advocacy and public health groups continue to keep up the pressure on any effort to increase use in any form.

Ray is hitting smokers where it hurts by sponsoring a $1 per pack increase in the state tax on cigarettes, which is forecast to generate $43 million in funding for revenue-strapped state budget. The Senate amended that bill Friday and returned it to the House.

Under the bill, which has passed in the House, the sale of the candy, which is not currently available in Utah, would be a class C misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $750.

The bill wouldn't apply to smoking-cessation gum and other helps approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration.

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com