Barrington council tries to ban tobacco, again

Officials aim to outlaw sale of tobacco to people under 21

Posted 10/26/17

The Barrington Town Council is making a second effort to ban the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 21. 

At a special meeting on Oct. 16, the council voted to repeal its …

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Barrington council tries to ban tobacco, again

Officials aim to outlaw sale of tobacco to people under 21

Posted

The Barrington Town Council is making a second effort to ban the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 21. 

At a special meeting on Oct. 16, the council voted to repeal its earlier tobacco legislation, with which it had tried to license the sale of tobacco in Barrington. The council then voted to introduce two new amendments — the first amendment prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products, and the second outlaws the sale of all tobacco products to people under 21.

"We feel very comfortable about our position on this," said Barrington Town Council President Michael Carroll.

The council president said the town is likely not in a position to license the sale of tobacco products, as it had intended through the earlier legislation. (Also included in that short-lived ordinance was a ban on the sale of tobacco to people under 21.)

Louis DelSesto, who owns a vape shop on Maple Avenue, filed a lawsuit against the town after the council filed the earlier legislation. He challenged the legal ability of the town to regulate tobacco sales through a licensing mechanism. Less than a week after filing the lawsuit, Mr. DelSesto learned that the council had voted to settle the suit and agreed not to enforce the ordinance.

Council members called a special meeting on Oct. 16 with the intention of addressing the tobacco ordinance. Members met and voted to repeal the ordinance, but they doubled down on their decision to ban the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 21. 

Currently, federal law prohibits the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 18. Mr. Carroll said council members are confident that they can alter the law, pushing the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 in Barrington. 

The council introduced Ordinances 170-9 and 170-10, which prohibits "the selling, giving, or providing of tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age" in Barrington.

The council also introduced new legislation banning the sale of flavored tobacco products outside of an electronic smoking device shop. There will be a public hearing on the proposed ordinances at the town hall on Monday, Nov. 6.

The newly proposed legislation drew a quick response from Mr. DelSesto. 

In a letter to the town council, Mr. DelSesto wrote that the law change will put him out of business.

"I put everything I have into the Ecig Shed. This business is my only means of supporting my wife and our two kids. If this business goes under, my family and I will be left with nothing," he wrote. 

"I ask you to weigh the harm to my family against the fact that applying a restriction like this to a single specialty store in a state with over a thousand alternatives would not stop any purchases, but only send those purchases out of town."

Mr. Carroll said he and other council members feel strongly about this issue. During an earlier interview, he said "The council is, at all times, trying to balance a variety of interests. We want to support local businesses, but not at the cost of risking the health of young people in town."

Mr. DelSesto countered: "Adults within the age of 18, 19 and 20 are old enough to purchase these products under state law. This age group of adults can go to war to fight, kill and get killed, get married, vote, buy a gun, if they got in trouble they will get tried as an adult, but cannot buy nicotine products? Seems a bit backwards to me."

In his recent letter to the town council, Mr. DelSesto asked that existing specialty shops, specifically the Ecig Shed, be excluded from the legislation.

"The ordinance as proposed would affect 11 businesses in town, with only one of those businesses, the Ecig Shed, operating as a vaporizer specialty shop," he wrote. "Meanwhile, there are over 1,200 tobacco dealers and 430 vaporizer dealers licensed in the state. In the surrounding municipalities of East Providence, Warren, and Bristol, there are 79 dealers who sell to people age 18 to 20, including 21 vaporizer dealers and 58 tobacco dealers.

"Unlike gas stations and convenience stores, I cannot make up those lost profits by selling other products. This ordinance, as currently proposed, would likely put me out of business."

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