Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Subdivision (c) of section 13 of chapter 64C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

(c) The term "cost to the wholesaler" shall mean the basic cost, which is defined as the invoice cost to the wholesaler, plus the face amount of the state cigarette excise or the replacement cost of the cigarettes to the wholesaler, plus the face amount of the cigarette excise within thirty days prior to the date of sale, in the quantity last purchased, whichever is lower, less all trade discounts except customary discounts for cash; to which shall be added a wholesaler's mark-up to cover in part the cost of doing business, which wholesaler's mark-up, in the absence of proof of a lesser or higher cost of doing business by the said wholesaler shall include all direct costs attributable to the receiving, bonding, stamping, handling, storing, sales and delivery of cigarettes, and, shall additionally include as evidenced by the standards and methods of accounting regularly employed by him in his allocation of overhead cost and expenses, paid or incurred, including without limitation, labor, salaries of executives and officers, rent, depreciation, selling costs, maintenance of equipment, delivery, delivery costs, all types of licenses, taxes, insurance and advertising, shall be two per centum of said basic cost of the cigarettes to the wholesaler, except for sales to chain stores which shall be one-half per centum, plus cartage to the retail outlet if performed or paid for by the wholesaler, which cartage cost shall be deemed to be three-fourths of one percent of the basic cost of the cigarettes to the wholesaler, unless said wholesaler claims and proves a lower cartage cost, or of the replacement cost of the cigarettes to the wholesaler within thirty days prior to the date of sale, in the quantity last purchased, whichever is lower, less all trade discounts except customary discounts for cash.

SECTION 2. Chapter 270 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 6 the following section:-

Section 6A. Whoever sells cigarette rolling papers to any person under the age of eighteen shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars for the first offense, not less than fifty dollars for the second offense and not less than one hundred dollars for a third or subsequent offense.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any civil ordinance or by-law or regulation to the contrary, which is in effect on the effective date of this section, no city, town, department, board or other political subdivision or agency of the commonwealth may impose any requirements, restrictions or prohibitions pertaining to the sale of cigarette rolling papers, in addition to those in this section.