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Attachment A Regular City Council Meeting Monday, January 11, 2021 Page 14 582 product does nothing to the nicotine that it contains. He stated the tobacco industry 583 knows this, and they prey on youth by targeting them and having them addicted 584 because they donÓt even realize the harm that these products are doing to their body. 585 This is also a matter of health equity and right now as over the past decade, tobacco 586 companies have selectively targeted the black communities in particular. He has 587 seen many patients with COVID-19 in the ICU, one thing they have in common is 588 heart disease, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease. He thanked the Council 589 for taking this step and hoped the Council would support this. 590 591 Mr. Gene Nichols, Shoreview 592 Mr. Nichols explained he was in support of clearing the market of all flavored to- 593 bacco products, including menthol. He stated in 2015, he was a project manager 594 for Minnesota Department of Health which lasted for two years to investigate the 595 use of menthol in the Twin Cities African American community. The data collected 596 from this project found that African AmericansÓ focus supports strong policies to- 597 wards regulating menthol tobacco products, but it is harder to quit at the same time. 598 Findings from this project were also used to support the Ramsey County Board of 599 Commissioners resolution to restrict mentholated tobacco products. Menthol con- 600 tinues to be disproportionately used among youth, black, indigenous and people of 601 color, and the LGBTQ+ communities. Greater use, addiction and health disparities 602 exist and persist because of the tobacco industryÓs history of marketing and pro- 603 moting menthol tobacco products in these communities. He noted growing up in 604 New York, they were affected by the free cigarette vans strategically located in his 605 community. He stated his older brother started smoking at the age of 15 as a result 606 and three years ago he succumbed to COPD after 54 years of smoking menthols. 607 This kind of suffering must end, and everyone must do what they can to protect the 608 health and wellbeing of youth and the most marginalized communities against fla- 609 vored tobacco products. He asked the Council to vote yes to ending the sale of all 610 flavored tobacco products in Roseville. 611 612 Mr. Khader Safi 613 Mr. Safi stated he owned an electronic cigarette wholesale and manufacturing com- 614 pany in Arden Hills. He asked, in the ordinance, if there was any distinction for 615 business-to-business transactions. He also asked if he relocated his business to Ro- 616 seville could he still do business and sell to other businesses outside the City or 617 Roseville or does the ban apply to business transactions as well. He commented he 618 was in opposition to the ordinance. He thought the FDA was tasked with reviewing 619 all the e-cigarette products and as of last September, all of the manufacturers in 620 Minnesota submitted their P&A applications for scientific review by the FDA. The 621 FDA has not banned flavored and issued a guidance last year that recommended 622 putting flavored tobacco in areas accessible only to adults in convenience stores or 623 behind the counter in adult-only smoke shops. He reminded the Council that even 624 though everybody is making comments about how bad tobacco is, the Council is 625 not tasked with deciding if tobacco is bad or not, it is just regulating the sale of 626 legal tobacco, which is legal to people over 21. The question is how directly the