ORDINANCE NO. __________, SERIES 2020
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AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 90 OF THE LOUISVILLE METRO CODE OF ORDINANCES ("LMCO") RELATING TO INCREASED PROTECTIONS FOR THE PUBLIC HEALTH BY REQUIRING LICENSES FOR RETAILERS SELLING TOBACCO, TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND/OR ELECTRONIC SMOKING DEVICES (AS AMENDED).
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SPONSORED BY: COUNCIL MEMBER COAN
WHEREAS, approximately 480,000 people die in the United States from smoking-related diseases and exposure to secondhand smoke every year, making tobacco use the nation's leading cause of preventable death; and
WHEREAS, consumption of tobacco is a leading factor in numerous poor health outcomes including COPD, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, asthma, gum disease and tooth loss; and
WHEREAS, tobacco use among priority populations in Louisville contributes to health disparities and creates significant barriers to health equity; and
WHEREAS, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, if cigarette smoking continues at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of today's Americans younger than 18 will die early from a smoking-related illness; and
WHEREAS, the Surgeon General has warned that the proliferation of e-cigarettes is "cause for great concern", and that the use of e-cigarettes has "become an epidemic among our nation's young people"; and
WHEREAS, in 2019, more than 1 in every 4 Kentucky teens reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days; and
WHEREAS, tobacco products and electronic nicotine delivery products contain nicotine which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded is a highly addictive drug with adolescents and young adults being more susceptible to its effects; and
WHEREAS, despite state laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products and electronic smoking devices to minors, access by minors to tobacco products is a major public health problem; and
WHEREAS, a local licensing system for retailers...
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