Athens City Council met on Monday to discuss tobacco retailer licenses, or TRL.
According to a previous Post report, Council member Sarah Grace, D-At Large, said she believes creating a city licensure system is an appropriate way to address underage smoking as it is the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Grace proposed a few amendments to the ordinance.
One proposed amendment would ensure that the ordinance includes grandfather clauses in sections that prohibit the existence of a tobacco retailer within certain distances from youth-oriented locations and facilities.
“The ordinance currently restricts a business from obtaining a license for the sale of tobacco within 500 feet of a youth-oriented location or facility,” Grace said.
Grace said an added grandfather clause would exempt an existing tobacco retailer holding a state tax license for the sale of tobacco products in that location for at least one year from the date the ordinance is enacted.
Grace said another was a definition for a movable place of business, which Grace defined as, “any form of business that is operated out of a kiosk, truck, van, automobile or other type of vehicle or transportable shelter that is not a fixed address.”
Grace proposed a third amendment clarifying the process of appeals for businesses that are denied tobacco licenses from the city.
Council member Alan Swank, D-4th Ward, said though he believes Council is obligated to reduce underage people from using tobacco products, he has a problem “chasing” the ordinance considering the disparities in studies displaying the underage use of tobacco products.
“Depending on what studies you read, some will actually indicate teen tobacco use is down and some will indicate that it is up, particularly as it relates to flavored vaping products,” Swank said.
James Wanke, a relative of the owners of Silver Serpent Exotic Gifts which has multiple locations in uptown Athens, said the Journal of American Medicine found in the year immediately following the implementation of the Tobacco 21 law, there was a 43% drop in e-cigarette use among high school students.
Wanke said his family’s business has a perfect underage record with both tobacco and alcohol, while some bars in the city have 10 to 20 underage or illegal sale violations.
Wanke said he believes Council should focus on the more “relevant and serious” issue of underage drinking in the city instead of underage nicotine usage.
