HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 10896City of Palo Alto
COLLEAGUES MEMO
December 09, 2019 Page 1 of 3
(ID # 10896)
DATE: December 9, 2019
TO: City Council Members
FROM: Council Members Cormack, Fine, and Tanaka
SUBJECT: COLLEAGUES' MEMO FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS CORMACK, FINE,
AND TANAKA REGARDING ANTI-VAPING MEASURES
Objective
Address the health impacts of electronic cigarettes by eliminating access to vape
devices, pods, and liquids in stores in Palo Alto and identifying programs to help
people, especially students, in our community develop healthy habits.
Recommendation
We recommend that our colleagues direct staff to immediately:
●Prepare an urgency ordinance prohibiting the sale and distribution of all
electronic cigarettes, in alignment with the County of Santa Clara’s recent
approach, with as few exemptions as possible;
●Identify avenues to support legislation making it harder for minors to
successfully order electronic cigarette products online (e.g. needing a signature
of a 21-year-old at delivery);
●Provide an update on the County’s recent enforcement activities of the existing
Tobacco Retail Permit Ordinance; and
●Provide funding in the amount of $25,000 from the Council Contingency Fund to
the Healthy City/Healthy Community working group to develop programs to
educate and inform teens and families about the health effects of electronic
cigarettes and to address the conditions that lead to teens using them for social
reasons or for stress relief.
Background
The health impacts of using electronic cigarettes, generally known as vaping, are
significant, particularly for our young people whose brains are still developing. Vaping
one JUUL pod means a person ingests approximately the same amount of addictive,
neurotoxic nicotine as smoking 41 cigarettes (source:
http://med.stanford.edu/tobaccopreventiontoolkit.html). The liquids in electronic
cigarettes are unregulated and contain many chemicals whose safety, when heated and
breathed into the lungs, has not been tested. The current outbreak of significant lung
disease related to vaping is still being analyzed, but the risks of death, lung damage,
and organ transplant are already known.
December 09, 2019 Page 2 of 3
(ID # 10896)
According to data presented at Hooked, the 2019 Santa Clara County summit to reverse
the vaping epidemic, more than 1 in 6 Santa Clara county high school students who buy
e-cigarettes in a store report getting them at a vape shop. According to the presentation
by Adolescent Counseling Services for the Human Relations Commission, “Just Say No”
and scared-straight programs are generally ineffective, while comprehensive teen and
family programs are considered the best approach to reducing substance abuse.
Resource Impact
Palo Alto has two types of tobacco regulations: restrictions on where tobacco products
(including smoking and vaping) may be used, and restrictions on where they may be
sold.
The City prohibits tobacco use in designated public spaces, including outdoor dining
areas, entryways, parks, places of employment, public events, recreation areas, service
areas and multi-family residential units (See Palo Alto Municipal Code, Chapter 4.64.).
Palo Alto Police and Public Works staff are primarily responsible for informing the public
of these restrictions and taking enforcement action, and do so as they are able in light
of all other activities and priorities. Neither department has sufficient resources for
robust proactive enforcement.
With respect to sales, Palo Alto participates in Santa Clara County’s tobacco retailer
program. Beginning in 2016, Palo Alto adopted the County’s model retailer permit
ordinance and entered into an agreement with the County for the County to administer
and enforce the retail requirements (See PAMC, Chapter 9.14.). In November 2019, the
County updated its retailer permit ordinance to add additional restrictions on sellers,
including:
• expanding the prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products to include
adult-only “smoke shops” selling 60% or more tobacco products, which were
exempted from the previously-existing ban; and
• banning the sale of electronic devices (e.g. vaping devices), phased in as annual
retail permits are renewed.
The expanded prohibition on flavored products will have a greater impact in Palo Alto,
where seven establishments currently qualify for the “smoke shop” exception, than it
has had in the unincorporated County.
Existing resources will be sufficient if Council updates the City’s sales regulation in
alignment with the County’s updated ordinance and continues its agreement for the
County to handle permitting and most enforcement activities. If Council were to direct
staff to take on responsibility for administering permits and enforcing retail tobacco
sales restrictions, additional City resources would need to be identified.
December 09, 2019 Page 3 of 3
(ID # 10896)
The Healthy City/Healthy Community working group is focusing its efforts on convening
organizations and experts who are working on or interested in issues related to
vulnerable populations. The working group selected youth vaping as the first issue of
focus. An event is being planned for late January 2020 to bring community leaders and
experts together to share information, facilitate discussion on best practices, and
identify gaps and opportunities. Staff recommends returning to Council in February
2020 to share what was learned at the vaping forum, including any recommended
actions or best practices, and identification of the level of funding that would be needed
for City staff to implement those actions. This would include a recommendation as to
which program or group would take the lead on implementation (e.g., Healthy City
working group, HSRAP, emerging needs, etc.).