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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—MARCH 25, 2019 7 Maher Safi, 1 Maycomb Lane in North Oaks, indicated he is the third brother and was here on behalf of Arden Hills Tobacco which was an adult only tobacco retail store. He reported his compliance rate was 100%. He commented on a letter he received from the City regarding the 21+ tobacco sales age. He explained he emailed a lengthy letter to the City Council noting the flavor ban was not proposed at that time. He understood the increase in tobacco use amongst young adults was a concern. He stated this was not occurring at his Arden Hills establishments. He discussed how the flavor ban would impact his business. He indicated the increase in use was due to online sales of e-cigarette products. He suggested the City educate children more and their parents. He recommended minors be ticketed if they have an e-cigarette product on them. In addition, he wanted to see fines given to those purchasing e-cigarette products for minors. He did not believe the City should be banning adults 21 and over from purchasing flavored tobacco products in Arden Hills. He explained his business has been in the community for the past 14 years and has been operating successfully. He presented the Council with a petition with 270 signatures noting the signees are requesting Arden Hills exclude adult only smoke shops from the flavor ban. Mayor Grant encouraged Mr. Safi to pass along his petition to the City Clerk. He requested Mr. Soffey wrap up his comments. Mr. Safi explained he was very emotional about this issue and commented this Ordinance would shut down his business. He further discussed how his business would be impacted given the fact he had contracts and inventory in place that could now not be sold. Charlie (Chuck) Kachel thanked the Council for having a bike rake at City Hall. He commented on the tobacco free initiative that began in the City in 2007 in order to make parks and City buildings smoke-free. He stated he lost a mother to COPD at the age of 75. He encouraged the Council to keep in mind that kids do not get addicted to nicotine because of the flavor but rather because of the buzz it provides. He feared that if the City were to approve this Ordinance, tobacco sales to minors would still occur, but would occur just outside Arden Hills' borders. He commented that the City Council was simply making it more difficult for adults who legitimately use flavored tobacco products. He was of the opinion this Ordinance would not impact tobacco sales but rather would take State or Federal action in order for a change to be instituted. He encouraged the Council to vote this legislation down. Kaitlyn Young, nursing student at Bethel University, stated she was really passionate about this issue because it impacted her peers. She discussed the clinical rotations she had to attend as part of her studies and noted she had seen many patients that were suffering from the long-term effects of tobacco. She indicated she was standing up for her generation and her peers urging the Council to support the Tobacco 21 ordinance. She believed this would assist in advocating for a healthier community. She explained that e-cigarettes were a dangerous new fad designed to appeal to young people. She reported 60% of young people using tobacco were using flavored tobacco. These companies were targeting young people in order to make money and were not concerned with the long-term health of its users. She stated she was concerned about the future health of her generation noting the use of e-cigarettes was a growing concern. She questioned why e-cigarettes were allowed to be flavored. She recommended the Council ban the sale of flavored cigarette products in the City of Arden Hills, while also raising the purchasing age to 21 explaining these would be life saving policies.