On Tuesday, Nov. 26 Cook County joined 54 Minnesota localities when commissioners voted unanimously to enact the Tobacco 21 (T-21) measure, which outlaws anyone under 21 from buying tobacco products.
Commissioners closed their regular meeting and held an open meeting to hear from the public about their wishes on the matter. Five people came forward and asked commissioners to approve raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21.
The move will affect 14 businesses in the county, but not in the city of Grand Marais.
Andrea Orest came before commissioners to say she started smoking at 14. And at age 40, still smokes. At 14, said Orest, she didn’t have friends who were 21. It would have been difficult for her to get cigarettes if the age to purchase tobacco products was 21 because she wouldn’t have known where to get them. She said she supported “increasing the gap between 14-year-olds and people who can buy cigarettes.”
Mike Carlson said he never smoked, but his parents both smoked and suffered from strokes “likely linked to smoking.” He asked commissioners to vote for T-21.
Tim Kennedy, a Grand Marais city councilor, commented on the ill effects tobacco products have on humans and added if commissioners voted to raise the age to 21, he would be inclined to vote for a T-21 ordinance for Grand Marais.
I.S.D. 166 assistant principal Mitch Dorr said vaping in school, “is a battle we are losing.” His colleagues in Two Harbors and Silver Bay have had to call ambulances to rescue kids who had suffered from the effects of vaping, he said.
Kids vape juice, nicotine, and T.H.C., said Dorr. They hide small vaping devices in their socks. “You can imagine what a good day it is when I’m asking kids to see their socks,” he said. “We do have 18-year-olds who purchase these things and bring them into the school.” He added that because kids vape in bathrooms and locker rooms, it is tough to police. “We can’t have cameras in locker rooms and bathrooms.”
Dorr urged commissioners to vote for T-21, noting that the school board strongly supported T-21.
Cook County Public Health and Human Services Director Alison McIntyre came before the board with some information.
She reported local data for Cook County students had just come in. In 2016, four percent of eighth-grade students said they had vaped within the last 30 days. In 2019, 36 percent of Cook County eighth-graders reported they had vaped during the previous 30 days.
McIntyre said 92 percent of eighth-graders got vaping products from friends. One hundred percent of ninth-graders and 90 percent of 11th-graders received vaping products from friends.
Board Chair Ginny Storlie closed the open hearing and asked for comments from the board. Commissioner Bobby Deschampe said he had a hard time “with government overreach.”
He said he realized the harm vaping was having on kids but added he knew of several 18-year-olds and 17-year-olds who had signed up for the military. “They are putting their lives on the line for us, but they can’t buy cigarettes?”
Still, Deschampe said, “I support this in some ways, and in some ways, I don’t.”
When it came time to vote, all of the commissioners voted for T-21. The ordinance will now have to be published before going into effect.
Leave a Reply