HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 05-13 City tightens rules on sale of tobacco related products MAPLEWOOD REVIEW2/11/2016 City tightens rules on sale of tobacco related products I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
City tightens rules on sale of
tobacco related products
Submitted by adminl on Wed, 05/13/2015 - 12:00am
By: Erin Hinrichs
Jonn7111t! 21, manager of t::..-1.141arettes, located
off White Bear Ave,, says he's fearful the new
ban on in-store sampling may destroy his
businessbecause customers are reluctant to
buy a flavored product they haven t sampled,
Students from Tartan High School's Students
Against Destructive Decisions group prepare to
speak in support of Maplewood's revised tobacco
sale ordinance at the April 27 city council meeting.
(Erin Hinrichs/Review)
Maplewood City Hall was abuzz Monday, April 27, as small-business
owners, students and activists waited outside council chambers for
the meeting where revisions to the city's tobacco sale ordinance
promised to spark a lively debate.
In an effort to streamline the public hearing, city clerk Karen Haag
instructed attendees to select just three representatives to speak on
each side of the issue. Testimonies would be limited to three minutes
per person.
Given the breadth of the five proposed amendments — including
bans on minors selling tobacco products and on the sampling of
electronic cigarettes in retail tobacco establishments — many speakers
chose to focus on a solitary item.
The city council, on the other hand, didn't discuss each specific code.
They approved the first reading of the revised ordinance in a 3-1 vote,
with councilman Bob Cardinal dissenting and councilman Marvin
Koppen abstaining from the vote, due to a conflict of interest. Koppen
said he holds a cigarette license for his store, Party Time Liquor.
Mayor Nora Slawik said the proposed amendments signified a
"progressive curve" before the council took a vote. But she's no
stranger to regulating tobacco use.
She served in the state Legislature when the Minnesota Freedom to
Breathe Act passed in 2007.
"It was a big fight, for a long time, to get that passed," she said. "Look
at how far we've come. We're working on this one step at a time."
Stricter than state law
In 2014, legislators amended the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act to
include the use of electronic cigarettes in the definition of smoking
and to restrict the use of the product in areas like hospitals,
government facilities and public schools. At the same time, they
stated that municipal governments reserved the authority to further
regulate the use of electronic cigarettes.
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QUAK1111
Before the April 27 public
hearing, city clerk Karen
Haag instructs Maplewood
business owners and their
consultants to select three
speakers to voice their
stance on revisions to the
city's tobacco ordinance.
(Erin Hinrichs/Review)
Since then, a handful of area cities — including North St. Paul, Roseville and Shoreview — have passed ordinances
prohibiting the sampling of e -cigarettes in licensed establishments.
But as council member Marylee Abrams pointed out, the city of Maplewood had a much more comprehensive list
of revisions that also included restricting the size of cigar packages to five cigars, setting a minimum price for a
single cigar at $2.60, imposing the same licensing and sales regulations on e -cigarettes as with any other tobacco
products, and including the term "kiosk" in the current definition of "moveable places of business."
Council member Bob Cardinal voiced hesitation early on, asking Katie Engman, program director of the North
Suburban Tobacco Compliance Project, "Would it be proper for us to wait until the state acts on this?"
Engman, who has been working with Maplewood for the past 15 years on reducing the impact of tobacco use,
responded, "We need cities to address this locally, and we know that would push the bubble."
Longtime council member Kathleen Juenemann added, "It takes somebody to be in front. A long time ago, we
joined this movement and made our initial ordinance. This is just, to me, a natural progression."
No more sampling
In accordance with state law, Haag reported that all affected tobacco sales license holders received notice of the
proposed ordinance by U.S. mail at least 30 days prior to the public hearing.
The initial notice they received included a provision prohibiting e -cigarette smoking in "places of employment."
This stipulation had been dropped from the final draft, approved by the council, but the banning of in-store
sampling elicited more than one plea to reconsider.
"Since the electric cigarettes came along, we added seven employees to our business," said Anan Barbarawi, the store
manager at Maplewood Tobacco. "It will hurt our business. We will have to consider relocating or shutting down."
After the meeting, Barbarawi explained that in order to sell e -cigarettes, customers often need a tutorial on how to
use the device.
Sue Sindt, owner of Simply Vapour — another local business that sells nicotine vaping liquids — added that many
who sample e -cigarettes are motivated by the fact that they want to reduce their tobacco use. In this regard, she said,
e -cigarettes are "a healthy alternative" to cigarettes and the ban on in-store sampling penalizes these customers.
"It does provide great tobacco reduction for people who want to stay healthy," Sindt said at the podium.
It's an argument Cardinal factored into his decision to vote against the proposed ordinance changes.
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"First off, it's a healthy alternative to cigarettes for those who smoke," he said during a follow-up phone interview.
"The state should direct what occurs with this, instead of them [representatives from the North Suburban Tobacco
Compliance Project] going around to all these municipalities and getting provisions."
Reducing peer pressure
Asked what she thought of the claim that in-store sampling of e -cigarettes is beneficial in helping smokers achieve
tobacco reduction, Engman refused to budge.
"If you have a toaster shop, you plug it in to make sure it works. You don't need to make a piece of toast," she said.
This analogy relates to one of her main concerns — that sellers are allegedly abusing the right to give in-store e -
cigarette tutorials by inviting customers to loiter and smoke in a lounge -like atmosphere. It's an environment, she
says, that makes smoking more appealing to youths.
According to all those who spoke in support of the proposed ordinance amendments, however, the ban on
allowing minors to sell tobacco products garnered the most support.
Michelle Tesser said as a teenager, she worked at a market on Frost Avenue and felt pressure from her friends to
sell them tobacco products.
Tesser also drew attention to marketing practices that target young people, such as flavored tobacco, cheap prices
and colorful packaging.
"I want them to be less appealing to youth," she told the council.
Student representatives from both Tartan High School's Students Against Destructive Decisions group and John
Glenn Middle School's Support Our Schools group raised similar points.
As a retired teacher, Juenemann said the element of peer pressure resonated with her. Before casting her vote to
help make tobacco products less accessible to youths, she addressed the opposition.
"We're not saying you can't sell tobacco," she said. "We're just limiting the things you can do to sell it."
Erin Hinrichs can be reached at 651-748-7814 and ehinrichs@lillienews.com. Follow her at twitter.com/EHinrichsNews.
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