58-92-5. Findings.

The General Assembly finds:

(1) Cigarettes are the leading cause of fire deaths in this State and the nation.

(2) Each year in the United States, 700-900 persons are killed due to cigarette fires, and 3,000 are injured in fires ignited by cigarettes, while in this State, there were 2,916 cigarette-related fires in North Carolina during the period 2001-2006.

(3) A high proportion of the victims of cigarette fires are nonsmokers, including senior citizens and young children.

(4) Cigarette-caused fires result in billions of dollars of property losses and damages in the United States and millions of dollars in this State.

(5) Cigarette fires unnecessarily jeopardize firefighters and result in avoidable emergency response costs for municipalities.

(6) In 2004, New York State implemented a cigarette fire-safety regulation requiring cigarettes sold in that state to meet a fire-safety performance standard; in 2005, Vermont and California enacted cigarette fire-safety laws directly incorporating New York's regulation into statute; and, in 2006, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts joined these states in enacting such laws.

(7) In 2005, Canada implemented the New York State fire-safety standard contained in the other state laws, becoming the first nation to have a cigarette fire-safety standard.

(8) New York State's cigarette fire-safety standard is based upon decades of research by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, congressional research groups, and private industry.

(9) This cigarette fire-safety standard minimizes costs to the State and minimally burdens cigarette manufacturers, distributors, and retail sellers, and, therefore, should become law in this State.

(10) It is therefore fitting and proper for this State to adopt the cigarette fire-safety standard that is in effect in New York State to reduce the likelihood that cigarettes will cause fires and result in deaths, injuries, and property damages.