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Cleveland’s new tobacco law starts today; smokers under 21 must shop elsewhere

http://www.cleveland.com/cityhall/index.ssf/2016/04/clevelands_new_tobacco_law_sta.html

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Beginning today, smokers under the age of 21 are no longer legally able to buy cigarettes, tobacco or other smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, in the city of Cleveland.

An ordinance, passed by City Council in December and taking effect today, bans the sale or distribution of the products to young adults, in the hopes that increasing the minimum sales age from 18 will disrupt the supply to children and teens.

The new restrictions apply only to vendors who sell tobacco and smoking products, and not to consumers.

Under the ordinance, a first offense is a fourth-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a $250 fine. Subsequent offenses are second-degree misdemeanors, which could carry a 90-day jail sentence.

Experts testified before Cleveland City Council that the new law will disrupt the supply of cigarettes and tobacco to teenagers and adolescents.

Council members said in December that they would prefer the city’s Health Department take the lead on enforcement, rather than police. And Council President Kevin Kelley said at the time that council could revisit that issue and propose amendments in the 120 days before the law took effect.

Kelley acknowledged this week, however, that council moved on to other issues and did not circle back to the ordinance to answer that question.

City spokesman Dan Ball said Thursday that the city will continue using the same enforcement method it used when the minimum buying age was 18. Health inspectors will report to police any tips, suspicious activity or concerns based on information gathered during scheduled inspections, random check-ups or from the public. Police then follow up with inspections or undercover buys, Ball said.

Public health experts testified at council hearings that such laws work because young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 make up only two percent of cigarette sales — but represent 90 percent of the suppliers to kids under 18. Increasing the legal buying age would naturally interrupt the supply to teens, experts said.

But the ordinance stirred controversy among the city’s business owners, who argued during council hearings that it will create unfair competition between store owners who will follow the law and those who won’t. They stressed that more devastating than losing the cigarettes sales would be losing the revenue from the other items that smokers buy while in the stores, such as sandwiches, snacks and groceries.

Return to cleveland.com Friday for more on this story, and to hear one store owner’s perspective on the new law

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