HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 056-19 - Supporting Move to Increase Tobacco Age to 21 in Olmsted County
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, public health policies, ordinances, and other laws are part of the
system by which people learn behaviors, guide youth, reduce health threats, and reinforce
community norms that support the public’s health; and
WHEREAS, commercial tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of
premature death in America. It causes half a million deaths annually and has been
responsible for 20.8 million premature deaths in the U.S. over the past 50 years since the
first Surgeon General’s report on smoking in 1964; and
WHEREAS, the United States Surgeon General stated regarding e-cigarettes, “We
must take aggressive steps to protect our children from these highly potent products that
risk exposing a new generation of young people to nicotine…E-cigarette use has become
an epidemic among our nation’s young people and;
WHEREAS, youth often do not understand that they are consuming nicotine when
using E-cigarettes; and
WHEREAS, numerous medical institutions and national health agencies, have
concluded that nicotine is a potent, vasoconstrictor stimulant drug, and that high amounts
of nicotine can be fatal, especially to young children, and youth brains are not fully
developed making them more prone to the addictiveness of nicotine; and
WHEREAS, an estimated 5.6 million youth currently aged 0 -17 are projected to
die prematurely from tobacco-related illness if prevalence rates do not change; and
WHEREAS, smoking-related healthcare expenditures cost the state of Minnesota
$3.19 billion annually which equates to $593 per person in every household across the
state regardless if they smoke or not; and
WHEREAS, national data show that about 95% of adult smokers begin smoking
before they turn 21 and the ages of 18 to 21 are a critical period when many smokers
move from experimental smoking to regular, daily use; and
WHEREAS 75% of smokers age 15-17 report getting their tobacco products from
social sources and younger students are less likely to know someone who is 21 versus
18 years old and;
WHEREAS, a number of Minnesota cities and counties have raised the tobacco
age to 21.
BE IT RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of Rochester supports the
Olmsted County Board of Commissioners in raising the tobacco age in Olmsted County
to 21.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA THIS _________DAY OF ________________, 2019.
___________________________________
PRESIDENT OF SAID COMMON COUNCIL
ATTEST: __________________________
CITY CLERK
APPROVED THIS _____ DAY OF ________________, 2019
________________________________
MAYOR OF SAID CITY
(Seal of the City of
Rochester, Minnesota)