O-13-19 Adding Chapter 5.55 to title 5 of the Colton Municipal Code

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDINANCE NO. 0-13-19 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLTON, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 5.55 TO TITLE 5 OF THE COLTON MUNICIPAL CODE WHEREAS, the City Council finds that a local licensing system for Tobacco Retailers is appropriate to ensure that retailers comply with tobacco control laws and business standards of the City and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our residents; WHEREAS, tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and kills nearly 6 million people each year globally; and WHEREAS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 400,000 deaths in the United States each year are attributable to tobacco use, including one- third of all cancer deaths; and WHEREAS, despite state law prohibiting the sale or furnishing of cigarettes, tobacco products, and smoking paraphernalia to minors, minors continue to obtain cigarettes and other Tobacco Products at alarming rates; and, WHEREAS, the tobacco industry encourages youth and young adult tobacco initiation through predatory targeting; and, WHEREAS, California Tobacco Retailers continue to sell tobacco to underage consumers; and, WHEREAS, the density of tobacco retailers, particularly in neighborhoods surrounding schools, has been associated with increased youth smoking rates; and, WHEREAS, state law prohibits sales of "drug paraphernalia," and WHEREAS, many retailers nevertheless sell items that are commonly known to be "drug paraphernalia," including bongs and pipes used to smoke methamphetamine and other illicit drugs, claiming that such items are intended for tobacco use; and WHEREAS, restricting the area of signage that tobacco retailers display on windows promotes community safety by ensuring law enforcement can easily view store interiors from public rights of way; and WHEREAS, unlike cigarette use which has steadily declined among youth, the prevalence of the use of non-cigarette tobacco products has remained statistically unchanged and in some cases actually increased among youth; and WHEREAS, the availability of inexpensive tobacco products leads to increased tobacco use as evidenced by more than one hundred academic studies that conclusively show that when tobacco products are made more expensive, fewer people use tobacco, fewer initiate tobacco use, and more people quit tobacco use; and