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ORDINANCE NO. 1786 <br />SERIES 2019 <br />AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE LOUISVILLE MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROHIBIT <br />THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS, INCLUDING ELECTRONIC SMOKING <br />DEVICES, TO PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE <br />WHEREAS, the City of Louisville is a Colorado home rule municipal corporation duly <br />organized and existing under laws of the State of Colorado and the City Charter; and <br />WHEREAS, House Bill 19-1033, effective July 1, 2019, authorizes the City to prohibit <br />minors from purchasing "any cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products" and to "impose <br />requirements more stringent" than those provided by State law; and <br />WHEREAS, national data shows that about 95 percent of adult smokers begin smoking <br />before they turn 21, and about three-quarters of adult smokers first try smoking before age 18, with <br />four out of five smokers becoming regular, daily smokers before they turn 21, making the 18-21 <br />age range a critical time when many smokers transition to regular use of cigarettes; and <br />WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a more than 800 <br />percent increase in electronic cigarette use among middle school and high school students between <br />2011 and 2015, with 1.5 million more youth e-cigarette users in 2018 than 2017, and those youth <br />who were using e-cigarettes were using them more often; and <br />WHEREAS, Boulder Valley School District high school students are using e-cigarettes at <br />higher rates (33 percent) than the State of Colorado (26 percent) and higher than the national rate <br />(13 percent), according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's 2017 <br />Healthy Kids Colorado survey; and <br />WHEREAS, a survey of 37 states found that Colorado had the highest level of vaping <br />among high school students and Colorado high school student use was double the national average; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, according to the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, 350 teens <br />become regular smokers each day in the United States, most procuring their tobacco and e-cigarette <br />products from their 18 to 20-year old peers; and <br />WHEREAS, the U.S. Surgeon General reports that nicotine has been proven to lead to <br />lifelong addiction for youth and negatively impacts adolescent brain development, including <br />affecting working memory and attention; and <br />WHEREAS, a March 2015 report by the Institute of Medicine concluded that raising the <br />tobacco sale age to 21 will have a substantial positive impact on public health and save lives, <br />finding that raising the tobacco sale age will significantly reduce the number of adolescents and <br />young adults who start smoking; reduce smoking -caused deaths; and immediately improve the <br />Ordinance No.1786, Series 2019 <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />