The Adolescent Tobacco Use Prevention Act (ATUPA) is a New York State Public Health Law creating an enforcement program aimed at reducing the accessibility of tobacco and vapor products to youth under 21 years of age. The law also prohibits the sale of flavored vapor products.
Under ATUPA, youth ages 18-20 are trained to conduct compliance inspections with Department of Health staff members to ascertain if vendors are selling tobacco products to underage youth. Those vendors found to be in violation are given hearing notices and, if found guilty after a hearing, are fined up to $2,500 and risk loss of their tobacco sales registration and lottery license for a one-year period. Every tobacco vendor in Orange County receives at least one compliance inspection yearly with youth inspectors as well as compliance inspections for proper registration and adherence to the law regarding the display or sale of flavored vapor products. Vendors found to be violating the law by selling or displaying for sale flavored vapor products are subject to fines up to $100 per box of flavored vapor product in the facility.
It is also important for vendors to know that tobacco products cannot be sold, offered for sale, or displayed for sale unless they are in a locked container, or behind a counter in a place accessible only to store personnel.
Free vendor training for Orange County Businesses on how to comply with the ATUPA Public Health Law is offered by the Department of Health.
For additional information regarding ATUPA, please contact the ATUPA office at (845) 360-6680.