Arkansas city bans sale of tobacco products to anyone under 21

For health, ban to rise from state’s 18

Helena-West Helena aldermen, upset over information about failing health in Phillips County, passed an ordinance this week that prohibits the sale of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to anyone younger than 21.

The Phillips County municipality will be the first in Arkansas and in the southern United States to enact such legislation, which goes into effect Sept. 1, said Helena-West Helena Mayor Jay Hollowell.

City Council members voted 9-0 Tuesday to raise the age from 18 to 21 of those who can legally buy tobacco. One alderman was absent.

"We were seeing a high incidence of teen smoking," Hollowell said.

"We thought it was a good idea to improve the health of the town."

The mayor said recent health statistics indicated that Phillips County ranked the lowest in health among the state's 75 counties. Obesity, hypertension and heart ailments -- all aggravated by smoking -- were noted in an Arkansas Department of Health study, he said.

"If you can reduce the number of younger smokers, you can reduce the burden of health issues," said Keisha Grigsby, program coordinator for the Family and Youth Enrichment Network, an advocacy group based in Helena-West Helena that has tobacco intervention as its focus.

According to information provided by the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization established as a component of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., raising the age by three years results in a 12 percent to 15 percent reduction in potential new smokers.

"The ages of 18 to 21 are formative years where addictions can start," Grigsby said. "At that age, they are still invincible and don't realize about the health issues. If they have to wait until they are 21, they may not start [smoking]."

Grigsby said her organization began lobbying Helena-West Helena aldermen more than a year ago with information about raising the age limit and sent mailers to residents about the health concerns of smoking.

"This was a grass-roots effort," she said. "We knew there was a strong possibility that the council could not pass this."

Group members gathered petitions to place the measure on the Helena-West Helena ballot in case the City Council turned down the ordinance. They obtained more than 1,000 signatures from registered voters.

"We were pleasantly surprised," Grigsby said of the unanimous vote by aldermen.

Along with Helena-West Helena, 134 cities across the country have raised the age from 18 to 21, including San Francisco and New York. Hawaii became the first state in April 2015 to pass statewide legislation that raised the age. California followed with a similar law a month later.

Under Helena-West Helena's new ordinance, tobacco sellers are required to verify buyers are at least 21 by examining photographic identification. "No such verification is required for a person over the age of 30," the ordinance read.

Those younger than 21 who buy tobacco products may have to attend tobacco-related education classes or diversion programs.

Anyone in violation of the ordinance will be fined $300 for the first offense, $600 for the second and $1,000 for each offense thereafter, the law . states. Business owners who sell tobacco products to anyone younger than 21 could see their licenses suspended by the Arkansas Tobacco Control Board.

While the ordinance is aimed at reducing health problems, it also may reduce revenue for tobacco stores, said Brandy Blaine, manager of the Tobacco Superstore 3 on North Sebastian Street.

"It will affect us," Blaine said. "We sell a lot to 19- to 20-year-olds. A fresh 18-year-old came in and said he turned 18 about three weeks earlier and was ready to buy cigarettes."

She said the ordinance will affect her workers as well. Four of her six employees are younger than 21.

"They will be out of a job," she said. "This is a starting point for work. They can put it on their resume that they worked here. Now they can't."

Gary Wheeler, the Arkansas Department of Health's chief medical officer, said the department applauded the Helena-West Helena aldermen for passing the ordinance.

"This is unusual for the South," Wheeler said. "The action in Helena-West Helena is a key indicator that Arkansas may be ready for this program. People in Phillips County are ahead of the rest of the state in looking at tobacco."

About 2 percent of tobacco products are used by those 18 to 21, Wheeler said. However, that age group is responsible for 90 percent of tobacco deliveries to those younger than 18.

He said tobacco affects several diseases, including diabetes.

The department's health study indicated that life expectancy rates in Phillips County were 10 years younger than those in Benton County.

"This seems to be a no-brainer," he said of Helena-West Helena's ordinance. "Of all the things to do to deal better with health, this is the easiest plan to pick out."

Grigsby said her organization may attempt to initiate similar legislation in Marianna next.

So far, she said, she hasn't met with much resistance.

"Some say if people are old enough to fight in a war, they should be old enough to smoke," Grigsby said. "But it's not fair to compare patriotism at 18 to the right to say it's OK to kill yourself by smoking."

A Section on 06/10/2016

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