CHICAGO -- The Chicago City Council on March 16 approved a series of tobacco measures introduced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. They include a tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco products and an increase in the age requirement to purchase both cigarettes and other smokeless products from 18 to 21 years of age.
The taxes include 20 cents per cigar, $1.80 per ounce for smokeless and smoking tobacco and 60 cents per ounce for pipe tobacco.
Currently, products such as cigars, cigarillos and smokeless tobacco are taxed less than cigarettes, making these alternate products more attractive.
The expanded tax on smokeless tobacco products is expected to generate about $6 million in revenue, which will then be invested to implement a universal summer orientation program for all incoming Chicago Public Schools freshmen and to support additional enforcement efforts.
The ordinance will tax these products at a fixed rate to account for not only the health risks associated with these harmful products, but also to reduce the availability of these products to youth.
The revised ordinance also integrates two additional measures to protect businesses. To accommodate small businesses that do not cater to youth, the revised ordinance will exempt new taxation on existing inventory, applying the floor only to new inventory.
“Youth smoking is now at a record low in Chicago, thanks to a series of reforms put in place to crack down on marketing tactics employed by big tobacco companies,” Emanuel said. “These reforms introduced today will help today’s youth develop healthy lifestyles and refrain from the harmful effects of a tobacco habit.”
Additionally, the ordinance empowers city enforcement staff with more tools and resources to combat the illegal sale of tobacco.
Since ordinance introduction, the Emanuel administration has worked closely with aldermen to strengthen the ordinance. Emanuel has directed additional resources to enhance the city’s tobacco units—a joint effort between the Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection and the Chicago Police Department—in order to more aggressively intervene in businesses selling tobacco products illegally.
So far, enforcement teams have identified 212 violations, resulting in the seizure of 830 packs of unstamped cigarettes from delinquent businesses.
The ordinance also calls on the city to provide aldermen with regular reports about activity in their wards, and enacts increased fines for repeat offenders of illegal tobacco sales.
Inside Baseball
Chicago has also joined a growing list of cities when aldermen approved a ban on chewing tobacco at professional and amateur sporting events in the city, reported The Associated Press.
White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf voiced his support in a letter to the city’s finance committee last week. He said children should not be exposed to smokeless tobacco and that the league and the city have a chance to be leaders “in an important cause” that “directly impacts the health and well-being of our fans, our athletes and our city.”
Similar bans are taking effect in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he disagrees with the ban even though he stopped using smokeless tobacco 15 years ago.
“When everyone else thinks they know what’s good for me, I don’t appreciate that,” he told AP.
Pitcher John Lackey had a similar reaction. Like Maddon, he said it should be up to the individual, even though he does not use smokeless tobacco.
“I get it, you don’t want your Little League kid to do that,” Lackey said. “I don’t do it, personally, honestly. Grown men should have their own choices.”
Cubs catcher Miguel Montero said he attempted to quit once and made light of the ban, saying it might make him moody. But he also acknowledged tobacco use sets a bad example for youngsters.
“It will be good if I do quit,” Montero said. “We will probably have to get a lot of nicotine gum.”
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