From: Marlon Mansour <
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2022 3: 48 PM
To: CityClerk < CityClerk@chulavistaca. gov>
Subject: NMA Letter in Opposition to Proposed Flavor Tobacco Ban Good afternoon,
Please find attached the Neighborhood Market Association' s Letter in opposition to the proposed ban on flavored tobacco, on the agenda for tomorrow' s council meeting.
I also want to stress that the retailer community, a key stakeholder greatly affected by the ultimate action of the City Council on this proposed ordinance, was not reached out for thoughts or guidance on this proposed ordinance.
The Chula Vista business community is not aware that this ban is being proposed in 24 hours.
Delay this Vote till the proper stakeholder outreach is done! Passing this ordinance without proper outreach to this key stakeholder group is tantamount to silencing their voices.
Best regards,
Marlon Oram Mansour
President
Neighborhood Market Association
6367 Alvarado Court, Suite 204
San Diego, CA 92120
Phone: 619- 313- 4400
www. neighborhoodmarket. org
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WrittenCommunications
Item8.2 - Mansour - Received9/12/2022
6367AlvaradoCourt Suite204, SanDiego, CA 92120 – 619-313-4400 – www.neighborhoodmarket.org Executive Board
Of Directors
Firas “Russ” Soro
ExecutiveChairman
Mark Kassab
ViceChairman
RemonMansour
Treasurer
SteveMattia
Secretary
SamirSalem
PastChairman
BasilZetouna
ExecutiveBoardMember
GhassanNamou
ExecutiveBoardMember
Molly Sylvester
ExecutiveBoardMember
RonyGeorges
ExecutiveBoardMember
SaeedSomo
ExecutiveBoardMember
SamAttisha
ExecutiveBoardMember
WisamMoshe
ExecutiveBoardMember
ExecutiveAdvisory
Members
Mike Anderson
Anheuser-Busch
Karam Toma
SouthernWine & Spirits
RobertWolf
PepsiCo
Eric Frey
Reynolds
President
Marlon OramMansour
President
Emeritus
Arkan Somo
General Counsel
DavidC. Jarvis
September12th, 2022
MayorMaryCasillasSalas
ChulaVistaCityCouncil
276FourthAve,
ChulaVista, CA91910
Re: ProposedFlavoredTobaccoBan
TheHonorableMayorMaryCasillasSalas,
Onbehalfof theNeighborhoodMarketAssociation (NMA) ExecutiveBoardandour members, wewouldliketo submitourwrittentestimonyin oppositionto theFlavored TobaccoBancurrentlyunderyourconsideration. TheNMAisanon-profit trade organizationthat representsover700family-ownedbusinesses, includingmany operatingin ChulaVista.
Inrecentyears, useof e-cigarettesandvapingproductshasrisen, largelyasaless harmfulalternativeto traditionaltobaccoproducts.1 Youthaccessto theseproductshas becomeaconcernfor legislators. Inrecentyears, theCaliforniastategovernmentas wellastheFederalgovernment, throughtheFoodandDrugAdministration (FDA), have takenpowerfulstepsto preventyouthaccessandadvertisingof theseproducts.2, 3, 4 Issuesof youthaccessisalsoparamountto ourretailers. Thatiswhytheytakeevery measureto assuretheseproductsneverreachthehandsof underageyouth. Our retailersarenot justbusinessowners; theyhavefamiliesandkidsof theirown.
TheNMAstronglyopposesthisproposedflavorbanfor severalreasons: theeffecton smallbusinesses, theunintendedconsequencessimilarflavorbanshavehad, andthe recentStateandFederalactionsthat havebeentakenontheissue.
EffectonSmallBusinesses
Inayearof enforcementin theCounty-level, retailershavelostanaverageof around50% of theirsalesdueto theflavorban. Somehaveshutteredtheir storesbecausetheycouldnot affordtheirrent. Othershavehadto layoff employeesor raisepricesof non-tobaccoproducts (milk, bread, eggs, gas) just to offsetthelargerevenuelossesto try to remainafloat.
Prohibitingproductsandsubjectingretailersandemployeesto civilandcriminal penaltieswill onlyincreaselawenforcementpresenceonourlocal communities. Meanwhile, thereisnodatain thestaffreportsuggestingthat retailersarethesourceof youthsgettingtobaccoandvapingproducts.
ManycitiesandlocalitiesinthegreaterSanDiegoareadonot currentlyhave flavoredtobaccobans, creatingalackof uniformlaws. Conveniencestoresare for convenience. Theyservetheircommunitiesandprovideaone-stopshopfor variouspurchases. Prohibitingthemfromsellingproductsthat arebeing permittedto sellafewstreetsawayonlydrivesawaybusinessto otherdistricts.
WrittenCommunications
Item8.2 - Mansour - Received9/12/2022
6367AlvaradoCourt Suite204, SanDiego, CA 92120 – 619-313-4400 – www.neighborhoodmarket.org TheUnintendedConsequencesof SimilarFlavorBans
Throughouthistory, bansonlegalproductshavecreatedpreviouslyunforeseen, moregrave consequences. Blackmarketandotherunregulatedsources, suchastheinternet, assumethemarket vacuumscreatedfromthesebansandfurtherendangerconsumers. Inpriorflavortobaccobans, studies showedgreatincreasesin traditionalcigarettesmoking.5, 6, 7 Finally, thesebanscausenegativeimpacts onbusinessesandlocalgovernmenttaxrevenue.
Wehavetwo relevantcasestudiesto lookto for guidance: SanFrancisco’sflavorban, whichwasmade in effectin January2019; andtheCountyof SanDiego’sflavorban, whichstartedenforcementin July 2021. InSanFrancisco, theflavorbanresultedin anincreasein youthssmokingtraditionaltobacco cigarettes.5, 6 SanFranciscosawdevastatingimpactsto smallbusinessesandtheirlocaltaxrevenue.8, 9 Legislatorscannotfailto adequatelyresearchandcontemplatetheseunintendedconsequenceswhen draftingaban. Banningaproductandtakingit awayfromourregulatorybodieswill onlydomoreharms to youths, thelocalbusinesscommunities, andthelocalgovernmentwhilemakingademinimisimpact onits intendedgoals.
RecentStateandFederalActions
Inlessthan2months, thepeopleof theStateof Californiawill voteontheStateReferendumfor SB793, thestatewideflavoredtobaccobanGovernorGavinNewsomhadsignedintolawin 2020.10 Inrecent years, theFDAhastakenabigfocusonthetobaccoindustry, reviewingapplicationsfor tobacco productswith afocusonensuringthepublichealthof theentirepopulationandfocusedonensuring productsdonot caterto newusers. Todate, 6.7 millionPre-MarketTobaccoApplications (PMTAs) have beensubmittedfor theFDA’sreview.2, 3, 4 WithouttheFDA’sapproval, theseproductscannotcometo marketanywherein theentirecountry. Ofthe6.7millionPMTAs, only22havebeenapproved. And these22aresubjectto yearlyreviewandpotentialrevocationif furtherdatashowstheproductsriskthe populationasawholeor that theproductencouragesnewtobaccousers.2 Insum, whiletheconcernsof tobaccoandvapingproductscateringto youthwith artisticpackagingand uniqueflavorsisveryserious, it hasrecentlybeenaddressedandcontinuesto beaddressed. Notonlyis it beingtakencareof, but eachapplicationisalsobeingstrictlyscrutinizedbytheFDAunderawide federalscope. Passingthislocallawwouldbantobaccoproductsthat eventheFDAapproves.
Conclusion
Whiletheintentionsbehindthisproposedlawarenoble, themeasureisill-conceivedtemporally, the languageandscopeareoverlybroad, andtheunintendedconsequencesfromsuchabannot deeply addressed. Theunintendedconsequencesof otherflavorbanshaveonlycausedgreaterhealthharmsto youths, whichnot onlynegatestheprimarypurposeof thisproposedban; it exacerbatesconcernsof youthaccessanddrivesuseof moreharmful, traditionaltobaccoproducts.
It’salsocleartheadverseimpactonlocalsmallbusinesses, alargestakeholder, werenot contemplated, andourretailercommunitywasnot reachedout to priorto thedraftingof thislegislationfor feedback or guidanceontheconsequencesof aproposedban. Ourretailercommunityisalwaysreadyandwilling to discussissuesaffectingourlocalandbusinesscommunitieswith ourelectedrepresentatives.
Thestatewill haveitsansweronthisissuethroughademocraticreferendumprocess. TheFDAhas alreadytakenimmensestepsto alleviatetheprimaryconcernunderlyingthisproposedban. Donot kill yourowndistrict’sbusinesses, causethousandsof employeesto losetheirjobs, allto theadvantageof WrittenCommunications
Item8.2 - Mansour - Received9/12/2022
6367AlvaradoCourt Suite204, SanDiego, CA 92120 – 619-313-4400 – www.neighborhoodmarket.org otherlocalities, lackingin flavorbans, downthestreetwhenyoucanwaitafewmonthsfor apotential uniformstate-wideban.
Thesestakeholdershavealreadybeencutout of theprocessandhadtheirvoicessilenced. Donot continueto disregardthesestakeholders.
Respectfully,
MarlonOramMansour
President
WrittenCommunications
Item8.2 - Mansour - Received9/12/2022
6367AlvaradoCourt Suite204, SanDiego, CA 92120 – 619-313-4400 – www.neighborhoodmarket.org References
1https://www.cbsnews.com/video/public-health-expert-worries-e-cigarette-panic-is-ruining-single- biggest-public-health-opportunity-in-120-years/
2https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/market-and-distribute-tobacco-product/premarket-tobacco- product-applications
3https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-27/fda-official-says-tobacco-product-reviews-are- in-final-stages
4https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/ctp-newsroom/perspective-fdas-progress-tobacco-product- application-review-and-related-enforcement
5 “ADifference-in-DifferencesAnalysisof YouthSmokingandaBanonSalesof FlavoredTobacco Productsin SanFrancisco, California” AbigailS. Friedman, YaleSchoolof PublicHealth 6 “Theimpactof acomprehensivetobaccoproductflavorbanin SanFranciscoamongyoungadults” YongYang, EricN. Lindblom, RamziG. Salloum, andKennethD. Ward 7https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/youth-and-tobacco/results-annual-national-youth-tobacco- survey?linkId=133964541&utm_campaign=ctp-nyts&utm_medium=social&utm_source=CTPTwitter 8EconomicImpactof theBanonFlavoredTobaccoProductsin SanFrancisco (CaliforniaFuels & ConvenienceAlliance)
9EconomicMitigationMeasuresResponsiveto CityBansontheSalesof CertainTobaccoProducts (San FranciscoSmallBusinessCommission, 2019)
10SB793: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB793 WrittenCommunications
Item8.2 - Mansour - Received9/12/2022