HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES-2015-036 Resolution Requesting that the NC General Assembly Rescind Preemption of Tobacco Regulation, Including Electronic Cigarette, and Therefore Restore Local Control Over Tobacco Policies RES-2015-036 Pff &-+A616-
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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
RESOLUTION REQUESTING THAT THE NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESCIND
PREEMPTION OF TOBACCO REGULATION, INCLUDING ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES, AND
THEREFORE RESTORE LOCAL CONTROL OVER TOBACCO POLICIES
WHEREAS, the health consequences of smoking are staggering, and there is irrefutable evidence
that tobacco use causes cancer, respiratory and cardiac diseases, infertility, negative birth
outcomes, irritations to the eyes, nose and throat (U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, 2014); and
WHEREAS, the economic losses in health care expenditures are equally important and the use of
tobacco products cost the U.S. as much as $170 billion in health care expenditures each year (Xu,
Bishop, Kennedy, Simpson, & Pechacek, 2014); and
WHEREAS, nearly 90% of all smokers begin smoking before the age of eighteen (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention , 2014); and
WHEREAS, in North Carolina, 1 in every 10 middle school students is a current tobacco user and
3 in every 10 high school students is a current tobacco user; and
WHEREAS, in North Carolina, 8,676 middle school students currently smoke cigarettes; and
55,688 high school students currently smoke cigarettes; (North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and
Control Branch ); and
WHEREAS, there is supportive evidence that increasing the minimum legal age of purchase to 21
will save more lives, reduce initiation among adolescents and young adults, and immediately
improve the health of adolescents, young adults and young mothers who would be deterred from
smoking, as well as their children (Institute of Medicine, 2015); and
WHEREAS, we believe in the need to educate and empower youth about the harmful effects of
tobacco use and prohibit these incidences of purchase until the conscious age of 21 years; and
WHEREAS, penalties included in G.S 14-313 Youth access to tobacco products, tobacco-derived
products, vapor products, and cigarette wrapping papers would remain the same; and
WHEREAS, in recognition of the damaging effects of preemption and the importance of community
tobacco control policies, both the Healthy People 2010 and the Healthy People 2020 objectives,
which are developed by the Department of Health and Human Services to set the national public
health agenda for each decade, include an objective calling for the elimination of all state laws that
preempt local tobacco control policies (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013).
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Orange County Board of Commissioners joins
with the Orange County Board of Health to request that the North Carolina General Assembly
restore local control over tobacco policies by rescinding preemption; therefore, granting Orange
County the legal authority to protect residents from known public health threats by enacting
innovative, evidence-based policies such as an increase in the minimum sale age of tobacco
products from 18 to 21. The lifting of preemption reinstates local capacity to develop public policy
and revitalizes community debate, education and empowerment.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we also call on other Boards of Commissioners to request the
restoration of local control over tobacco policies so as to better help prevent youth initiation.
This the 16th Day of June 2015.
Earl McKee, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014, February 14). Smoking and Tobacco
Use . Retrieved January 8, 2015, from Youth and Tobacco Use :
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth—data/tobacco—use/
Institute of Medicine. (2015). Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of
Legal Access to Tobacco Products. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press.
North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch. (n.d.). North Carolina Youth
Tobacco Survey: Middle and High School Fact Sheet.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013, April 5). State Preemption of Local
Authority to Engage in Evidence-Based Tobacco Control Policies. Retrieved March
17, 2015, from NC Alliance for Health:
http://www.ncallianceforhealth.org/Media/Tobacco/North%20Carolina%20preemptio
n%20LOE%204%2015%202013.pdf
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). The Health Consequences of
Smoking-- 50 years of Progress:A Report by the Surgeon General. Rockville: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
Xu, X., Bishop, E. E., Kennedy, S. M., Simpson, S. A., & Pechacek, T. F. (2014). Annual
Healthcare Spending Attributable to Cigarette Smoking. American Journal of
Preventative Medicine, 48(3):326-33.