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33 "Cigars; little cigars; cheroots; stogies; periques; granulated, plug cut, crimp cut, ready <br />34 rubbed, and other smoking tobacco; snuff; snuff flour; cavendish; plug and twist <br />35 tobacco; fine -cut and other chewing tobacco; shorts; refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings <br />36 and sweepings of tobacco, and other kinds and forms of tobacco." <br />37 <br />38 The definition is now expanded to also include: <br />39 <br />40 "Any products containing, made, or derived from tobacco that is intended for human <br />41 consumption, whether chewed, smoked, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, <br />42 or ingested by any other means, or any component, part, or accessory of a tobacco <br />43 product. " <br />44 <br />45 This revised definition includes new products on the market, such as tobacco -laced mints <br />46 and "e- cigarettes. " The e- cigarettes are typically a plastic container (that looks like a <br />47 cigarette and may even have a red - lighted end) that delivers nicotine through a mist. The e- <br />48 cigarettes are smokeless, but are still a nicotine - delivery device. <br />49 <br />50 Tobacco Shop Considerations <br />51 ... Currently, the City Code is largely absent when it comes to regulating "tobacco shops <br />52 deferring again to State Statute for guidance. State Statute 144.4167, subd 4 defines <br />53 "tobacco shops" (in a particular context) as: <br />54 <br />55 Subd. 4. Tobacco products shop. <br />56 Sections 144.414 to 144.417 do not prohibit the lighting of tobacco in a <br />57 tobacco products shop by a customer or potential customer for the specific purpose <br />58 of sampling tobacco products (emphasis added). For the purposes of this <br />59 subdivision, a tobacco products shop is a retail establishment with an entrance <br />60 door opening directly to the outside that derives more than 90 percent of its gross <br />61 revenue from the sale of loose tobacco, plants, or herbs and cigars, cigarettes, <br />62 pipes, and other smoking devices for burning tobacco and related smoking <br />63 accessories and in which the sale of other products is merely incidental. "Tobacco <br />64 products shop" does not include a tobacco department or section of any individual <br />65 business establishment with any type of liquor, food, or restaurant license. <br />66 <br />67 This definition stems from the Minnesota Clean Indoor Act of 1975 and the Freedom to <br />68 Breathe Act of 2007 which regulated where smoking could occur indoors. While the <br />69 definition of a tobacco shop is defined, the term "sampling" is not. This is important <br />70 distinction because a new type of tobacco establishment has been emerging in the Twin <br />71 Cities area that is significantly different than what we might think of as `traditional' tobacco <br />72 shops. They are known as "hookah lounges ", "hookah bars ", or "hookah cafes' . <br />73 <br />74 For purposes of this discussion, a 'traditional' tobacco shop can be categorized as a place <br />75 where people can sample tobacco products for a brief period of time before deciding <br />76 whether to make a puNChase. One might suggest that the sample would be represented by a <br />77 very small portion of a cigar or pouch of pipe tobacco for example. It would therefore be <br />78 reasonable for a prospective buyer to spend a minute or two to sample the product before <br />79 making the purchase for consumption away fNOm the premises. <br />so <br />81 <br />Page 2 of 7 <br />