Terms Used In New York Laws > Public Health > Article 13-F - Regulation of Tobacco Products, Herbal Cigarettes and Smoking Paraphernalia; Distribution to Minors

• Adjourn: A motion to adjourn a legislative chamber or a committee, if passed, ends that day's session.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Bidis: means a product containing tobacco that is wrapped in temburni leaf (diospyros melanoxylon) or tendra leaf (diospyros exculpra), or any other product offered to consumers as "beedies" or "bidis". See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Enforcement officer: means the enforcement officer designated pursuant to article thirteen-E of this chapter to enforce such article and hold hearings pursuant thereto; provided that in a city with a population of more than one million it shall also mean an officer or employee or any agency of such city that is authorized to enforce any local law of such city related to the regulation of the sale of tobacco products to minors. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Felony: A crime carrying a penalty of more than a year in prison.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Gutka: means a product containing lime paste, spices, areca and tobacco. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Herbal cigarette: means any product made primarily of an herb or combination of herbs, and intended to be smoked in any of the methods that tobacco is smoked, including but not limited to, as a cigarette, cigar or pipe filler. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Misdemeanor: Usually a petty offense, a less serious crime than a felony, punishable by less than a year of confinement.
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nicotine water: means bottled water that is laced with nicotine. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means a person, firm, company, corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited partnership or association. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Price reduction instrument: means any coupon, voucher, rebate, card, paper, note, form, statement, ticket, image, or other issue, whether in paper, digital, or any other form, used for commercial purposes to receive an article, product, service, or accommodation without charge or at a discounted price. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Private club: means an organization with no more than an insignificant portion of its membership comprised of people under the age of twenty-one years that regularly receives dues and/or payments from its members for the use of space, facilities and services. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Retail dealer: means a person licensed by the commissioner of taxation and finance to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, or vapor products in this state. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Shisha: means any product made primarily of tobacco or other leaf, or any combination thereof, smoked or intended to be smoked in a hookah or water pipe. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tobacco business: means a sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, partnership or other enterprise in which the primary activity is the sale, manufacture or promotion of tobacco, tobacco products and accessories, either at wholesale or retail, and in which the sale, manufacture or promotion of other products is merely incidental. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Tobacco products: means one or more cigarettes or cigars, bidis, chewing tobacco, powdered tobacco, nicotine water or any other tobacco products. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Vapor products: means any noncombustible liquid or gel, regardless of the presence of nicotine therein, that is manufactured into a finished product for use in an electronic cigarette, including any device that contains such noncombustible liquid or gel. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA
• Vapor products dealer: means a person licensed by the commissioner of taxation and finance to sell vapor products in this state. See N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-AA