Agenda - Council - 11/10/1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ILittle Canada scrambles to meet requirements of tobacco law by ~nnl~r Gan~n triier this year, Gev. CarLvon ~gned a youth anti-smoking bill hat b~come effective Aug. 1. ,Aa I~. ~le Canada ~ n~ ~'bling to find ways Io m~t aw's ~ ~ui~ments, o~ of &~h ~ ~[iance ~. a~ ,~ it w~ this n~lawt~ :~L~I~ ~Ma ~ty ~ncil ming ~ at im Aug. ~ ~ting ~ Sub~ T~ pl~ Pm~ (N~). ~ ~t ~i~ to ~ the ~ui~ ~mplian~ ¢h~ of all ~r &e ~ii by ~ty aifl~mtor J~l H~, the ~unty Sheriff's ~r ~ man~ ~ ~ t~ pl~ ~ ~ J~ owe. e~ to Ha~n t~t ~fll ~ ~e N~O, wh~ ~nj~ion w~ thc ~mmencled thai plan of action to until wit's the mc~ eff'gzJeflt way tb ~e ihat the n~, compliance checks Wed oat," he explained. "We · the staff to recgui! and youth gered in these checks. ~_~ _,:t~ding to the law we must do s'i'cP'- proj~ :'oon~na~:~, Stsaa Richter-~Leen, L F~ a very convenient way for ~ dries to ace that thc law wedo mo~ than the law h~ by having two compliance :becks a ya~' ~l~-joi.s N~.-:;o is S40 per ~i~:c~ ~. II is a chang~ frmn the previous year when the bast rate was S350 per city, plus $1 I.I 1 per vendor, "We wanted to give ~ome inc~nllve for the smaller cities in' Ramsty County to ~in,' i~chter- Eggtrt explained. "With the new roes, · smaller city like l../llle Ca.ada that only h4u seven vendors gels 'b~lt~r I'ale tKan~ let's say, Iomconc with !130 v~dots." Other NSTCP member cities include White Bear' Lake, Shoreview, New Brighton, . h~con Hei~ht~ Roseville, North ~t. hul. Mos~ m:~ntly, Moun~ View joined the ranks. "As a number of citim joi'~ the costs per vendor. will said. "We have · set b~dget we must meet, and t~ars how the fees were ~leulated. With an pe~idpatlo~ Ihose fe~ may go' down in the fulute." NSTCP is a kx:~! pmgrun tint im been i, ~isten~ for four year~. The ~mary ~ ia m 'tedu~ of wire's 8o~g on ~t all times.' Tie org~iz~io~ eo0n~na~ 4sxnplLtn~ ~eck~ between law enforct~ne~t ~ne. ies, citie~ ~d . Ihe Roseville Review - September 9, 1997 ~tu&:nt compliance checkers~ As .pan of that effort, NSTCT recruit~ ,l~d trains underage studcnls lo tr~ purch~iflg tobacco products. "We train interested s~udenL~ ~ing · protocol.sh~* R ~chter- Eggcrt said. "We basically t~ll tl'g~ to dress like t~ir We want to deter kids from even' starting to smoke and keep vendors On top of the latest changes in the law. ss NS'IE'P age, not lo try and look older~ We also tell then' Io n~cr tic ff uked about their age and we rain them in what to do if s s~e is actually made." "~ aren't lo trap anyon~ with thc.sc added. "W~ jus~ wa~ to make sate everyone Js following the i~w and no~ selling te tlqJ nors." NSTCT alsO conducts lrainihg workshops for ~Ji vendors ~ their ennpIoyees in 'memher areas, holds quarterly t'necfings with alt ~ity m~mbers't~ up~*~ tbem on compliance tesulL~ sad keeps ongoing communicatiQa betw~n all particip~ing groups. 'We try to increut ~lucation ~ all parties,' ~ exp~d. A~cordin; RichLe~-Eggen, there · ecmed to be '~ la of confusion slx~t what was included in the new cily." She beli¢¥~,~ that confusion came from Ioo many overlapping laws. · 'Thctc wcr~ FDA laws, .sta~ laws ami then some cities ~ their own tobacco policies,'* she · ?.xp~dned. "No one knew wha~ anyonc'dse ~ fol[o~in'g. Whh this new law though, ~v~hing i~ quire ctearly spelled ont. Now everyone must follow the sa~n~ set of ~quir~m~n~. It climinatm a lot of gue~ work." fotlowing minimum standtrd~ for all cities in ~ s~atc: "A licensing fee is now req-,ired hefor¢ ~ny vendor can begi~ s~lling tobacco p~ Ti~ fe~ will be set by a local licensing authority, wilh f~s r~nging from $?_5 to $300. ' Al le.a~ ~ a year ~ach vendor in thc cily mus~ be chcckt~i for compliance of tim s~a~e l~w. · Vending machines arc prohibited in an ~tablishmcm un_less the ~ablishmcm cannot be entered by minom. Most bars do not qualify. · S~lf-s~rvicc of single pack~ of cigm'ettes or smokeless toba::co is prohibiled. Multi-pack displays arc · allowed. This stipulation cxcludm "tobacco-only" retail establishmcnt~ ~hete mir, off a~e not allow~l to With the new requirements, the. n a~ also ~:iffer penalt/e~ for non-. · ~ompllam~ wilh the ' SIom own~a facea fin~ of:g75 Ih~ fi~'~ ~im~ an employee t~ao:o to a minor. The ~:ond time~ ti~ fine is ~20B. The third · time., the owner is fined $250 and give~ a minimum of a r~wn-day ' A clerk caugl~ selling to a minor will be fined an additional :LSO. Currently there i~ no l~ovision for multiple offcns~:s. C. hie~ may make their own ~ipulaticms in this · Minor~ caught purchasing to 'bacon produc~ will be obs.,ged wi~ t ~ misdemeanor. u~e ~ Minnesota driver's lie:nsc or I.D. in an au~'n~ to purcl~ will n:~::~ive & 90-day suspen.~on of their own ~ivcr's licen~ for the flint offcRse. For ti~ ~ond offense their license may be revoked until Ibey arc 18. ' Aclulls over 18 who ~ lhe~r Miru'~,o~ dr~v~'s lic~.a~e a minor who then anempo pumKa~e tobacco ar~ subje~ to · 90--day rmspe~on of their driver's l~-~.se as well. De:spile all th~ pemdties for kids ~,'ho au'e causfit buying tobacco ff~m to kick and they will con~nu~ to try buying m fe~:l their habit. P~eming them from ~taning ia fi~ plac~ is the main goal of lbo ~ iaw~. Bm az: the i~d~ awa~ of the new consequono~ if they caught? She thini~ tim ~ey are 'V¢ all ~umm~ that ~ if they don't know ali the de~g aware of wK~t'a dirc~Jy to ~ at, tools to ~.ui. 't flmse kid~ to help with the compiianc~ c:hmk~ Kids ~ abe~t things iik~ th~ from one and know wc ate out th~c ~hcckht~. Hopefully we'll ha:der for 11~.m to atart thc habit.