Moorhead considers ban on flavored tobacco, vape juices – INFORUM

To address the issue, the council is considering joining 22 other cities in Minnesota by instituting a ban on all flavored tobacco products, including most forms of chewing tobacco, menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

Clay County tobacco prevention coordinator Jason McCoy told council members that 180 out of 1,000 students in Moorhead have a nicotine addiction.

The council voted 6-2 to direct city staff to work on an ordinance draft to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco and vaping juices in the city's 23 mostly convenience, liquor or grocery stores that are tobacco license holders.

The city will hold a public hearing before making a decision.

Council members Matt Gilbertson and Chuck Hendrickson opposed moving forward with the ordinance this week.

Hendrickson said he isn't opposed to the ban, adding his father probably died from smoking and that tobacco use is a significant concern in Moorhead's junior and senior high schools.

However, he said he wants to wait before moving forward with a flavored tobacco ban because Clay County and the city of Dilworth have not yet developed similar restrictions of their own and have only approved vape juice bans. Waiting could help prevent confusion in Clay County, he said.

Gilbertson said he was concerned the ban would prevent, for example, a 60-year-old local farmer from buying flavored chewing tobacco.

He also noted that most people in the area buy their cigarettes and other tobacco products in Fargo, where the tax is considerably lower. A pack of cigarettes can be about $3 to $4 cheaper on the west side of the Red River.

Gilbertson said he favored the flavored vape juice ban, though.

Council member Heather Nesemeier said she had heard from "tons of people" on the issue and wanted to see the full ban but not before hearing more from the public.

Residents were also able to address the council on the proposed ban.

Kawar Farck, who said he represented the Kurdish community in the area, said it was a "cultural issue" as some immigrants use flavored tobacco products.

He wondered why there would be a flavored tobacco ban and not one on flavored liquor.

Farck also noted that R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company sued the Minneapolis suburb of Edina over its ban on flavored tobacco products.

However, McCoy responded that the tobacco giant lost that case and every other similar lawsuit around the country.

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Moorhead considers ban on flavored tobacco, vape juices - INFORUM