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Attachment F October 19,2020 Theodore Brausen Brausen Family Repair 2170 N. Dale St. Roseville, MN 55113 Dear Roseville Council Members, As the public hearing on the tobacco ordinance approaches, I truly hope that each and everyone of you have done your due diligence researching facts when and taking into consideration all aspects of the economic impact that your vote will have. This ordinance will have a tremendous effect on all retailers who sell these products. Have you talked to your local schools to see what tobacco products are actually confiscated? Have you spent a day at a local retailer or 2 and observed the non-tobacco sales that will be lost from the customer that purchases the products you are trying to ban? Will the retailer be able to survive pending the outcome of your vote? Can your city afford to lose several businesses if you do a total ban like Arden Hills? (Can you afford a lawsuit like the City of Arden Hills is involved in right now?) Have you looked and the ordinances of your neighboring cities to see if your city will lose tax dollars to neighboring cities? Reading the proposed ordinance, 706.010 “Purpose and Intent” it is clearly outdated information, some of which is 22 years old! The City of Arden HillsDIDNOTin any way put forth effort in seeking current information regarding statistic of tobacco usage among all users. This data, as you have also used, has been specifically chosen from years of 1999 – 2012. Why?? Because after those dates, statistics show a decline in overall tobacco usage, something anti-tobacco groups do NOT want you to know! The problem with the tobacco and youth today is electronic devices such as the Juul brand. I know that as a retailer who has been selling tobacco products for 50 years, I have not yet had an underage person try to even buy one of these devices. Due to the of the ease of purchasing this product online, the underage youth do not have to prove their age other than clicking a button. Employees have been trained to card every customer that appears to be 30 years or younger and there is no room for error. They are explained and understand the consequences of having to appear in court and that they will get a personal citation if they violate this law. I am sure the retailers within the City of Roseville are as diligent as we have been in Arden Hills keeping tobacco out of the hands of minors. These kids are NOT getting tobacco from local retailers - Retailers are actually the ones keeping tobacco AWAY from minors. Keep in mind, retailers are working WITH you, not against you. Please do not punish retailers by including tobacco flavors such as menthol mint and wintergreen in the flavor ban. Arden Hills included these flavors and I personally stood to lose 30-35% of my non tobacco business. This is why I have joined the lawsuit against the City. I had put a 3-million-dollar renovation on hold as I could not make that kind of investment knowing I will lose that much business. (In 1 hour alone, I have watched several customers who purchased a tin of Grizzly or Copenhagen, also purchase $35-$50 in gasoline and $3-$8 in soda and snacks, all which will now go 1 block down the road to Shoreview for their new 1 stop shopping experience. (Shoreview EXCLUDED menthol, mint and wintergreen in their flavor ban) We live in a much different world today than even 20 years ago. No matter what you change the legal age to or what is legal to purchase, minors will always get their hands-on something they should not such as alcohol or tobacco. We need to focus more on educating the kids on the financial and health impact on the choices they make and follow through with tougher consequences when they make bad choices. If they choose to break laws then they should be considered mature enough to accept the financial responsibilities of the fines that go along with that choice. When we do not punish them for breaking the law, we do not give them a reason to stop. The extent the government should have is to make a law that carries punishment to those that break the law, not to the retailers who abide by it. The anti-tobacco groups will also preach about the health costs of long-term tobacco use, obesity has caught up to those costs and will soon surpass that due to the decline in tobacco usage. What will be next, a ban of Happy Meals at McDonalds or soda consumption to overweight minors because it leads to obesity? I truly hope that you will take into consideration that while tobacco is a health issue, it is also a legal product and the menthol, mint and wintergreen products have been legal for more than 50 years. I agree with keeping tobacco away from our youth, you have no argument there, but this is a parenting issue, not a government issue and should be kept as that. I would like to reiterate that the youth today are not purchasing or using the traditional tobacco products, the severe increase is the electronic devices which is easily purchased online. I urge you to go hard after those sales as the local retailers have, and will continue to refuse tobacco sales to minors. Sincerely, Theodore Brausen