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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 06-16-2026; 8-c - Resolution in Support of Tobacco 21 to Protect Youth from Vaping and Nicotine Addiction 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: June 16, 2026 Action Agenda Item No. 8-c SUBJECT: Resolution in Support of Tobacco 21 to Protect Youth from Vaping and Nicotine Addiction DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Resolution Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board, 919- 245-2310 PURPOSE: To approve a resolution in support of Tobacco 21 to protect youth from vaping and nicotine addiction. BACKGROUND: At the Board's June 2, 2026 Business meeting, a member of the public provided comments and submitted materials requesting that the Board adopt a resolution expressing support for efforts at the State level to protect youth from vaping and nicotine addiction. As of 2022, 27% of high school students in North Carolina report tobacco use. Use of e-cigarettes has increased significantly among youth, and nicotine is harmful to developing brains. In 2019 Congress increased the federal minimum legal sales age of all tobacco products to 21. As of March 2026, North Carolina is one of six states that has not increased the minimum tobacco sales age to match federal law. The state risks losing $5 million in block grant funding for prevention, treatment, and recovery services if tobacco sales to youth are too high in required annual inspections. Proposed State legislation will raise the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21; establish a tobacco sales permit for retailers; strengthen enforcement; increase compliance requirements; and set legal penalities for selling or assisting in selling tobacco products to anyone under 21. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration of the resolution. ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: This item supports: • GOAL 2: HEALTHY COMMUNITY OBJECTIVE 1. Improve harm reduction, prevention, and therapeutic interventions for adults and children experiencing behavioral health issues, substance use disorder, and intellectual or developmental disability. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve and authorize the Chair to the sign resolution. 2 RES-2026-041 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Resolution in Support of Tobacco 21 to Protect Youth from Vaping and Nicotine Addiction WHEREAS, one of every five deaths in North Carolina is associated with cigarette smoking,' and for each death, 30 more people are sick or live with a disability'; and WHEREAS, 95% of tobacco users start before the age of 213; and WHEREAS, as of 2022, 27% of high school students in North Carolina report tobacco use, with e-cigarette use having significantly increased among youth since 20114; and WHEREAS, nicotine is harmful to developing brains, and its use during adolescence can disrupt the formation of brain circuits that control attention, learning, and susceptibility to addictions; and WHEREAS, in a 2020 study among North Carolina schools, a high proportion of school administrator and teacher respondents believed that e-cigarette use among students is somewhat or very problematic (91%), and that student e-cigarette use is a somewhat or high priority issue for their school administration (90°/x)6; and WHEREAS, most North Carolina young people obtain tobacco products, including e- cigarettes, from retailers, and NC young people who get e-cigarettes from friends primarily get them from friends who are under 211; and WHEREAS, in 2019, the United States Congress increased the federal minimum legal sales age of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21, and while a majority of states (44 states, as of March 2026) have increased their minimum tobacco sales age to 21 to match federal law, North Carolina's minimum sales age remains 188; and WHEREAS, having the same legal sales age at 21 for alcohol and tobacco products reduces the burden on retailers; and WHEREAS, North Carolina is one of only seven states in the country that does not require tobacco retailers to obtain a license or permit9; and WHEREAS, the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Commission is capable of implementing an efficient and effective tobacco retailer permitting system based on the system also in place for alcohol retailer permitting; and WHEREAS, establishing a retailer permitting system AND raising the minimum legal sale age to 21 will: • Allow the State to know where tobacco products are being sold • Improve merchant education efforts 3 • Allow the State to inspect for responsible retail practices • Protect law-abiding retailers by holding non-compliant retailers accountable • Prevent and reduce youth use of highly addictive nicotine products • Help eliminate the use of e-cigarette and other emerging nicotine products in schools • Reduce any confusion among retailers and consumers by having one legal sales age for state and federal law10, 11; and WHEREAS, under the Federal Synar law, states are expected to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 21, with NC potentially losing over $5.2 million in annual funding from the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant money (funds NC uses to pay for drug treatment) through penalties under the federal Synar amendment if sales to underage youth are too high in required annual inspections12; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of Commissioners supports policy changes for North Carolina to protect our children and youth from vaping and nicotine addiction by establishing a tobacco retailer permitting system, raising the minimum age of sales from 18 to 21, and adopting other needed provisions of legal sales of tobacco products to match federal law. Adopted this 16th Day of June, 2026. Jean Hamilton, Chair Orange County Board of Commissioners 4 Sources: 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs-2014. 2014. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity/best practices/index.htm. 2. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health. Reports of the Surgeon General. The Health Consequences of Smoking-50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2014. 3. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012. 4. Source: Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey Middle & High School Fact Sheet. https://tobaccopreventionandcontrol.dph.ncdhhs.gov/data/yts/docs/2022-NCYTS- Factsheet-I nfograph ic.pdf 5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2016. 6. Tanz, L., Heck, C., Herzig, C., Ranney, L., Herndon, S., Martin, J., Hast, M., McGowan, E., Baler, G., Shamout, M., King, B., Tynan, M., Kansagra, S. (2020). Rapid Assessment of the Impact of E-cigarettes on Schools as Reported by School Staff and E-cigarettes Confiscated by Schools— North Carolina, 2019. Unpublished manuscript. 7. CDC Foundation. North Carolina Cross-Sectional, Online Survey Summary Tables. 2021: 1-104. 8. Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, Tobacco 21, (2024), https://tobacco2l.org/. 9. State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System Licensure Fact Sheet, Ctr. For Disease Control (last reviewed: November 1, 2024), https://www.cdc.gov/statesVstem/factsheets/licensure/Licensure.html#anchor 15628541 61. 10. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Dept of Health and Hum. Serv. (2014), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK99237/pdf/Bookshelf NBK99237.pdf. 11. Roee L. Astor, et al., Tobacco Retail Licensing and Youth Product Use, Pediatrics (Jan. 7, 2019), https:Hpediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/143/2/e20l 73536.full.pdf. 12. Revision to SAMSHSA Guidance on Tobacco Regulation, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (June 13, 2022).