A unanimous vote by the Cottonwood City Council, Tuesday, May 3, has made Cottonwood the first city in Arizona to adopt the Tobacco 21 initiative, restricting the sale and consumption of tobacco and vapor products to those 21 and older.
The new law goes into effect Thursday, June 2.
According to Yavapai County Community Health Services Health Educator Jen Mabery, Ordinance 620 was largely the result of an effort by the Yavapai Anti-Tobacco Coalition of Youth, a 15-student-strong Mingus Union High School club whose efforts last year resulted in an ordnance restricting smoking in city parks.
Students argued in favor of the Tobacco 21 ordnance, presenting polling that suggests overwhelming national and local support for increasing the age for tobacco purchasing and consumption, as well as data that leads researchers to believe that nearly 90 percent of all U.S. smokers began smoking before the age of 20.
According to Yavapai County Community Health Services Health Educator Jen Mabery, Ordinance 620 was largely the result of an effort by the Yavapai Anti-Tobacco Coalition of Youth, a 15-student-strong Mingus Union High School club whose efforts last year resulted in an ordnance restricting smoking in city parks.
Students argued in favor of the Tobacco 21 ordnance, presenting polling that suggests overwhelming national and local support for increasing the age for tobacco purchasing and consumption, as well as data that leads researchers to believe that nearly 90 percent of all U.S. smokers began smoking before the age of 20.In addition, YATCY members presented well-documented data to support how deleterious the effects of smoking are on developing bodies and brains.
Mabery, the primary health educator working with YATCY, praised the kids’ effort and the passing of the ordnance, calling it “a historic event.”
Despite vocal opposition from representatives of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets and various local retailers, the ordnance prevailed unchanged, adding a relatively minor-sized municipality to the list of major U.S. cities such as San Francisco and the state of Hawaii to adopt Tobacco 21-inspired ordnances.
“It showed that Cottonwood cares more about health than the business of making money,” Mabery said.
Look for the full story in our Wednesday, May 11, edition.
