CDC, Office on Smoking and Health
Bimonthly Point-of-Sale Strategies Webinar
April 12, 2011
Tobacco Retailer Licensing: Lessons from the Field
Welcome – Jerry Spegman, CDC OSH
- Introduction and Agenda Overview
Licensing Overview – Dave Schaibley, Tobacco Control Legal Consortium
PPT: “POS Webinar 4.12.11 - Licensing Overview”
- Brief introduction of Tobacco Control Legal Consortium (TCLC); emphasized willingness to assist with licensing
- Provided a brief overview of the role that tobacco retailer licensing (TRL) can play in a multi-faceted tobacco control program.
- Licensing: adoption of a law that requires anyone who wants to sell tobacco in retail environments to obtain permission
- Not every state or territory has licensing in place
- Drew comparisons to other commonly used licensing schemes and pointed out some of the fundamental elements of effective retailer licensing including appropriate fee levels, annual renewal, and meaningful enforcement mechanisms.
Santa Clara County, California – Nicole Coxe, Santa Clara County Public Health Department
PPT: “POS Webinar 4.12.11 –Santa Clara County”
- Santa Clara County recently enacted comprehensive licensing ordinance which became effective January 22, 2011.
- California has a relatively weak statewide licensing scheme in place for tobacco retailers, but more than 100 localities in the state have passed TRL ordinances, and more than 80 of these local ordinances are considered strong.
- Strong TRL ordinance:
1)Requires all retailers in the jurisdiction to be licensed
2)Has licensing fees sufficiently high enough to pay for implementation and enforcement
3)Has meaningful fines and penalties, including suspension/revocation
- Key provisions of Santa Clara ordinance includes:
-Ban on licenses for pharmacies
-Ban for mobile retailers operating at temporary events
-Ban for retailers within 1000 feet of a school or within 500 feet of another tobacco retailer
-Ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products
-Prohibition on ads covering more than 15% of a tobacco retailer’s windows and doors
- Successful enactment process resulted from having a strong champion for the ordinance on the board of supervisors, working closely from the start with the county’s legal counsel, understanding the role of stakeholder outreach and engagement, collaborating with impacted county department, and key coalition partners and grassroots organizations
Providence, Rhode Island – Laura Oliven, Tobacco-Free Providence
PPT: “POS Webinar 4.12.11 - Providence”
- Passed TRL ordinance earlier this month by the city council in Providence, RI, effective December 2011
- Providence ordinance designed to reduce underage tobacco sales and specifically bans the sale of loosies (currently sold by 20% of tobacco retailers in the city).
- Why did Providence pursue?
-Wanted to get in control of what was happening with regard to underage tobacco sales in our stores and neighborhoods, particularly in our lower income communities
-Want authority to revoke license after multiple offenses
-Create a sustainability strategy
- What is the law?
-Conducted through Bureau of Licenses (similar to alcohol)
-Annual registration fee is $100; While much less than Santa Clara County’s $425 fee , still considerably higher than what most state TRL laws around the county require
-Increasing penalty based on number of offenses
-Authority to revoke license for multiple offenses
-Business and user friendly:aligned registration timing with other required licenses that businesses need.
- Did not frame the law as a new requirement for business owners, but as a protection for the safety and health of kids in neighborhoods (especially low-income neighborhoods). Framed the law as supporting businesses and highlighted that actually only a small number of retailers are selling to youth. This strategy strengthened their ability to pass the ordinance. Emphasized that the new requirement was only 27 cents a day.
- Made the strategic decision to make this a quiet passage – did not employ media campaign or grassroots organizations. Instead, the coalition focused on retailer outreach and education efforts, involving community members who live and shop in the neighborhoods where tobacco retailers are located.
- Coalition consulted early with Dave Schaibley and Tobacco Control Legal Consortium as they developed their policy proposal
- Passing the Law:
-Hired Tobacco Vendor Consultant who visited vendors providing checklist on how to adhere to guidelines, in-person meetings, coordination, etc.
-Survey to see impact of policy change
-Big Rollout (high visibility) next week
-Licensing Database – taking it electronic
Questions
Q: Why quiet passage? Why not grassroots?
A: It was all about being effective. We thought working with their key stakeholders and framing as youth health prevention and were proven right. We chose not to employ media campaigns and engage our advocacy apparatus but will have loud vibrant campaigns later for remaining policy change agenda.
Q: How many stores does law cover?
A: 306. Anyone who sells tobacco
Q: Did the loosie ban cover the sale of cigars?
A: Not sure, but will check. Definitely includes single cigarettes. – Comment: I checked the language and the loosie ban only applies to cigarettes. We are not aware of cigar loosie sales in Providence.
Q: Have there been any issues raised because of quiet passage?
A: We just passed the law on Thursday. There were 3 public votes, full testimony at subcommittee vote. This was a fully public process.
Oregon – Kirsten Aird, Oregon Public Health Division
- Provided perspective of a state with a generally strong record on tobacco control but without statewide TRL
- Oregon’s priority areas (probably echoed throughout nation):
-Increasing price
-Tobacco control prevention programs
-Clean indoor air and protection from secondhand smoke (went into effect in 2009)
- Oregon looking at more opportunities to close loopholes and strengthen priority areas
- Discussions are well underway to move forward on statewide licensing although program funding and the state’s smoke-free workplaces law face challenges in the current legislative session. This is in part driven by successful efforts to enact local TRL ordinances across the state.
- Tobacco program is working with Oregon’s Liquor Control Commission. FDA can be leveraged to fill gaps. This organization has applied for an FDA tobacco retailer enforcement contract.
Licensing Overview – Dave Schaibley, Tobacco Control Legal Consortium
PPT: “POS Webinar 4.12.11 - Licensing Overview”
- Resumed presentation, drawing on examples provided by the other presenters to discuss how licensing can be used as a vehicle for assuring compliance with a variety of federal, state, and local tobacco control laws.
- Licensing can be used as a tool to reduce retailer density by restricting:
-Locations where tobacco retailers can operate
-Type of retailers that can sell products (e.g., Boston: prohibition on health care retailers)
-Overall number of tobacco retailers permitted in a given jurisdiction
- Stressed that licensing is a legally sound approach that is generally familiar to lawmakers in other contexts, and that as demonstrated by Santa Clara County, can be very versatile, incorporating an assortment of retail environment marketing restrictions in one effective and enforceable regulatory scheme.
Questions
Q: How would ad restrictions in a TRL ordinance be impacted by 1st amendment restrictions?
A: Can do creative things like Santa Clara: prohibits more than 15% of window signage but did not specify tobacco. If you want to do tobacco specifically, we are willing to have the conversation.
Closing Remarks – Jeff Willett, New York Tobacco Control Program
- Underscored the opportunities that both state and local TRL provide for aggressive, creative, and effective enforcement of point-of-sale restrictions
- Echoed Kirsten’s remark that she was inspired by the bold efforts in Santa Clara County and providence
- Congratulated Providence on their effective strategy and echoed that a city-based registration process is an excellent way to better control what is happening in your city around youth tobacco sales
- Encouraged others to look at their existing statewide licensing laws to determine how they can be strengthened
*** Next POS Webinar in June***
Contact Information:
Jerry Spegman
CDC Office on Smoking and Health
David Schaibley
Tobacco Control Legal Consortium
Nicole Coxe
Santa Clara County Public Health Department
Laura Oliven
Tobacco-Free Providence
Kirsten Aird
Oregon Public Health Division
Jeff Willet
New York Tobacco Control Program
Asha Hill
CDC Office on Smoking and Health