Public Comment
Gravenstein Health Action
COALITION
Dear City Council Members
On behalf of Gravenstein Health Action Coalition, I would like to ask the city of Cotati to add the adoption of a Tobacco Retail License (TRL) to your goals for the upcoming year. A Tobacco Retail License will reduce the harmful effects of tobacco/nicotine on your community and the environment. The youth in the community are particularly at risk for the effects of nicotine which are harmful to the developing brain. Effects can include depression, anxiety, lack of concentration as well as risk for addiction into their adult life.
Electronic cigarettes are able to deliver the same amount of nicotine as 50 or more cigarettes in one vaping device. In 2023, according to the Youth Truth Survey, 6% of the 7h graders, 8% of the 9th graders and 13% of the 11* graders in Sonoma County were using e-cigarettes. The vaping pens being deposited in Sonoma County landfills in 2022 accounted for 3 million vape pens or 70 tons of waste. All hazardous, non-biodegradable and can explode.
Due to the tobacco industries' marketing strategies, many youths feel that e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco cigarettes. Unfortunately, e-cigarettes concentrate the nicotine causing increased possibility of addiction. The tobacco industry is using new strategies to fuel its multi-billion-dollar industry and flooding the market with new nicotine and tobacco products which are sold as "smoke free", "less harmful" and "safer". There is nothing further from the truth. The Tobacco industry continues to put profit over people's health.
The FDA has banned the sale of flavored cigarettes because of their appeal to youth. This ban did not include e-cigarettes, e-liquid, cigars or chewing tobacco. These need to be controlled by local regulations. At this point the municipalities that surround your city ( Sebastopol., Santa Rosa and Petaluma ) have passed TRLs. Consistency across Sonoma County will provide the best protection for our youth and our environment
Please join the county-wide effort to reduce tobacco and nicotine use by our youth and help prevent lifelong addiction and the harm that comes with it.
Sincerely,
Mary Lou Schmidt, RN, MSN
President of the Board
Gravenstein Health Action Coalition