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 Richfield
 Code of Ordinances
 Chapter XI. BUSINESS AND TRADE REGULATIONS
 Section 1146. TOBACCO

§ 1146.01. Findings and Purpose.  

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  • Subdivision 1. The Richfield City Council makes the following Findings in support of this section intended to regulate the sale, possession, and use of tobacco and related devices and products and to protect young people against the serious effects associated with the use of tobacco and related devices and products:

    (a)

    The City Council recognizes that the sale of tobacco, tobacco-related devices, electronic delivery devices, and nicotine or lobelia delivery products to persons under the age of 18 violates both state and federal laws;

    (b)

    Studies, which the city hereby accepts and adopts, have shown that 95 percent of smokers initiate use before the age of 21; and that almost no one starts smoking after age 25;

    (c)

    Tobacco use has been shown to be the cause of several serious health problems which subsequently place a financial burden on all levels of government;

    (d)

    Raising the legal purchasing age to 21 will take legal purchasers out of the social circles of underage users and studies have concluded that raising the legal purchasing age for tobacco to 21 would result in a 12 percent decrease in tobacco use and approximately 223,000 fewer premature deaths for those born between 2000 and 2009;

    (e)

    Raising the legal purchasing age to 21 is in line with the minimum age to buy alcohol and simplifies ID checks for retailers;

    (f)

    There is evidence to suggest that enforcement of possession, use, or purchase (PUP) laws against youth detract from the enforcement of penalties against retailers and that youth of color in Minnesota are disproportionately over-represented in similar status-level offenses, increasing their interactions with law enforcement and the juvenile justice systems;

    (g)

    Enforcement of PUP laws has not been shown to reduce youth smoking significantly and because PUP laws do not sufficiently take into account the tobacco industry's responsibility for targeting youth with its marketing practices, this section is intended to regulate the sale of tobacco, tobacco-related devices, electronic delivery devices, and nicotine or lobelia delivery products for the purpose of enforcing and furthering existing laws, to protect minors and young adults against the serious effects associated with use and initiation, and to further the official public policy of the state in regard to preventing young people from starting to smoke as stated in Minn. Stat. § 144.391, as it may be amended from time to time.

    Subd. 2. Studies. In making these findings, the City Council accepts the conclusions and recommendations of: the Institute of Medicine's report, "Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products" (2015), the U.S. Surgeon General reports, "E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults" (2016), "The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress" (2014) and "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults" (2012); the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their studies, "Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students—United States, 2011-2015," and "Selected Cigarette Smoking Initiation and Quitting Behaviors Among High School Students, United States, 1997"; and of the following scholars in these scientific journals: Xin Xu et al., Annual Healthcare Spending Attributable to Cigarette Smoking: An Update, Am. J. Prev. Med. 48(3): 326-33 (Mar. 2015); Giovino GA, "Epidemiology of Tobacco Use in the United States," Oncogene (2002) 21, 7326-40; Khuder SA, et al., "Age at Smoking Onset and its Effect on Smoking Cessation," Addictive Behavior 24(5):673-7, September-October 1999; D'Avanzo B, et al., "Age at Starting Smoking and Number of Cigarettes Smoked," Annals of Epidemiology 4(6):455-59, November 1994; Chen, J & Millar, WJ, "Age of Smoking Initiation: Implications for Quitting," Health Reports 9(4):39-46, Spring 1998; Everett SA, et al., "Initiation of Cigarette Smoking and Subsequent Smoking Behavior Among U.S. High School Students," Preventive Medicine , 29(5):327-33, November 1999, copies of which are adopted by reference; Wakefield, M & Giovino, G "Teen Penalties for Tobacco Possession, Use, and Purchase: Evidence and Issues," Tobacco Control (2003)12, i6-i13; the Minnesota Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee's report, "2016 Annual report to Governor Mark Dayton and the Minnesota State Legislature (2016). (Amended, Bill No. 2013-19; Bill No. 2018-6)