Evanston has been a pacesetter within the combat in opposition to smoking, but a city committee moved tentatively Monday, because it excluded menthol from a proposed city ban on flavored tobacco merchandise.
The Human Services Committee voted 3-2 to exempt menthol merchandise from the proposed ordinance, with a number of members saying the city is perhaps higher off if another governmental unit would take a lead function on the difficulty.
“I think this is one of those where I really would like to see Cook County and the state lead,” mentioned Council Member Bobby Burns (fifth Ward), “because unless we couple this with actually helping people with addiction, or helping people to support them in changing their behavior and choosing different habits, this is just a feel-good policy to me.”
Voting in favor of excluding menthol had been Burns and Council Members Krissie Harris (2nd Ward) and Devon Reid (eighth Ward). Council Members Eleanor Revelle (seventh Ward) and Juan Geracaris (ninth Ward) voted to maintain menthol merchandise within the ban.
Committee members then voted 4-1 to ship the complete ordinance – making it illegal for any retailer to promote any flavored tobacco product, together with e-cigarettes – to the council for consideration.
On that vote, Revelle solid the lone no vote.
During the sooner citizen remark portion of the assembly, various native well being advocates had urged committee members to maneuver ahead on a ban.
“The problem is that the tobacco companies entice our youth with fancy flavors, get the kids addicted as long-term customers until they struggle to quit or die,” mentioned Donald Zeigler, chair of the Evanston Health Advisory Council and likewise chair of the Illinois Advocacy Committee of the American Heart Association.
“Massachusetts and California have banned all flavored tobacco products,” Zeigler mentioned. “Chicago, unincorporated Cook County and River Forest have passed weaker measures that only address e-cigarettes. Evanston can and should do more. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, at its annual meeting in June, passed a resolution that supports prohibiting sale of all flavored-tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars – just what you are considering now.”
Reid: Flavor ban a ‘huge win’
Reid, who proposed the modification to exclude menthol from the ban, famous that he had been one of many sponsors, with Revelle and Geracaris, of the preliminary proposal, which had known as for a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes, together with menthol.
He maintained that it could nonetheless be “huge win” for the city if the council had been to enact the ban on flavored tobacco gross sales.
“I do think we have an opportunity to cut that supply, join our neighbors in Chicago, hopefully encourage the county and state to adopt this sensible measure and really head off the next generation,” Reid mentioned.
“I think we’re going to have a hard time, and realistically we are going to see folks who leave our community to go purchase their cigarette products elsewhere. In reality, I think that is something that this is council is willing to take, that loss. I think we are prioritizing public health in this instance.”
Harris: ‘I don’t suppose it’s our place’
Burns voted in assist of Reid’s modification, saying he was wanting ahead to dialogue of the ordinance on the council, which has ultimate authority.
“You know,” he reminded committee members, “we talked about how some policies make sense for municipalities to lead on and others make sense for Cook County and the state to lead on.”
Harris shared that she is a nonsmoker and he or she has a robust distaste for smoking.
“I wish it would go away,” she mentioned. “I thought it would, by this time – that it wouldn’t be cool.”
Nevertheless, regarding a complete ban that would come with menthol, she mentioned, “we do a lot of restricting and I don’t think its our place to make that call.”
“We’re not preventing it from happening,” she mentioned. “Skokie and all of our neighbors will continue to sell, until it is something that comes from the county.”
Geracaris supported the proposed whole ban. “I’ll just share that I haven’t had any negative feedback other than [from] tobacco lobbyists,” he instructed committee members. “When this was brought to my attention by health advocates, I thought this is something that will better the community, and so I’m [in] support.”
History of management in opposition to tobacco
Ike Ogbo, the city’s director of Health and Human Services, instructed committee members that he understood their reservations with some facets of a complete ban, “but let’s not forget that Evanston has always been a leader in tobacco policy.”
In 2005, Evanston was one of many first communities to ban smoking in public locations, Ogbo mentioned. That step contributed to the City of Chicago and State of Illinois ultimately turning into smoke-free, he mentioned.
In 2014, Evanston was the primary city in Illinois to boost the authorized age for getting cigarettes from 18 to 21, Ogbo mentioned. “The whole State of Illinois followed the same direction after this law was established first in Evanston,” he mentioned.
“So I think this will be an opportunity for us to stake our claim again,” he instructed committee members, “to be leaders in tobacco policy and to drive the momentum.”
Revelle, chairing the assembly, was supportive of that view. “I’m looking at the chart that we got, the information that we got from the American Heart Association at our last discussion,” she mentioned, “and it talked about current youth tobacco users and the rate at which they use various substances. So 68% of these current youth tobacco users use flavored e-cigarettes, so that’s clearly something we want to focus on. But 47% use menthol cigarettes,” she mentioned.
“I’m personally supportive of continuing with the current draft ordinance.”
Lung affiliation backs menthol ban
During the general public remark portion of the assembly, Shonnel Blair, a well being promotion specialist with the American Lung Association, was certainly one of various well being advocates urging committee members to again a ban that features menthol merchandise.
“When considering legislation to address flavored tobacco products, it is important that the proposal is comprehensive, addressing all flavors and all products,” Blair mentioned.
She mentioned the lung affiliation has been calling for motion in opposition to menthol since 2011.
“Menthol is not only a flavoring but a chemical with complex druglike qualities that can impact smoking initiation, addiction,” Blair mentioned. “Menthol has cooling and anesthetic properties which reduces the harshness of cigarettes from smokers. Menthol also reduces airway pain and irritation and can suppress coughing which can mask the early warning symptoms of smoking-induced respiratory issues or problems.”
Blair mentioned that whereas general cigarette gross sales have been declining, the proportion of people who smoke utilizing menthol cigarettes has been growing, with near 40% of youngsters utilizing that kind of cigarette. Furthermore, she mentioned, menthol cigarettes are disproportionately marketed to the Black neighborhood.
Tobacco retailer rep: Smokers will evade ban
Another speaker, David Spross, government director of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, which incorporates a number of Evanston shops, mentioned a taste ban would damage accountable retail members and have unintended penalties.
“First, it will increase border sales,” Spross mentioned. “We looked at some of the data and there are approximately 900 retailers located within just 10 minutes of the Evanston city limits,” he mentioned. “And [from] what we’ve seen in other communities that have banned [flavored tobacco], Evanston residents will drive to neighboring cities to buy their preferred flavored tobacco products.”
Spross mentioned people who smoke would evade a flavored tobacco ban, so it could not lead to any well being advantages.
“A ban on flavored tobacco products will shift sales from the city’s licensed retailers to an unregulated illicit market that the city has no control over,” he mentioned. “A flavor ban will push age-restricted flavored tobacco product sales in retail stores to the streets so that anyone, including youth, who has the cash, can purchase them.”