HOUSE BILL NO. 1413

By Representatives Pruitt, Lois DeBerry, Langster, Sherry Jones, Brooks, Beavers, Bowers

Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 1693

By Senators Dixon, Harper, Ford

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-15-401, relative to fetal alcohol and drug addiction.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. (a) Each licensee which sells alcoholic beverages at retail not for consumption on the premises and each licensee which sells alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises shall post, in a prominent place easily seen by its customers, a warning sign supplied by the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which meets the requirements of subsections (b) and (c). The signs shall contain a warning that drinking alcoholic beverages during pregnancy can cause birth defects, including fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects.

(b) The Alcoholic Beverage Commission shall prepare the signs required by this section and make them available at no cost to those licensees described in subsection (a) within sixty (60) days following the effective date of this act and when a new license is issued to a person for the sale of alcoholic beverages at retail or for consumption on the premises. The Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services shall assist the Alcoholic Beverage Commission in preparing such signs upon request of the Commission.

(c) The signs required by this section shall be composed of black, capital letters printed on white laminated paper at a minimum weight of one hundred ten pound (110) index with lettering not less than one inch (1") high. The letters comprising the word "WARNING" shall be highlighted black lettering.

(d) If the Alcoholic Beverage Commission finds that a licensee has failed to post the sign required by this section, the Alcoholic Beverage Commission shall notify the licensee in writing of the violation. A licensee who fails to post such sign within twenty-four (24) hours of receiving such written notification shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) for each day the licensee is in violation.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1997, the public welfare requiring it.