Becky Anderson, speaking on behalf of Sanford Health, to Moorhead City Council, Oct. 12, 2021.
MOORHEAD (KFGO) – The Moorhead City Council has approved an ordinance that raises the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 and also bans all flavored products from licensed stores in the city beginning January 1st. The vote was 7-to-1
A number of citizens appeared to support the ban in a public hearing prior to the vote. Becky Anderson, Sanford Health’s Respiratory Manager, sometimes in tears, spoke of the years she has dealt with those dying of diseases as a result of smoking,
She said she has sat beside the beds of thousands of patients,” people trying to bring some small measure of comfort and life at a time when many of them were at the end of their lives, dying too soon.”
Council member Matt Gilbertson, the only vote against the ban, said, “You can’t regulate behavior, Prohibition didn’t work and this is a form of it.” He said the ordinance will only send more people to Fargo to purchase those tobacco products.
The ordinance brings Moorhead into compliance with a federal law that raises the minimum legal sales age for all tobacco products from 18 to 21. The ban includes menthol cigarettes, flavored chewing or smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, and vape juices.
Comments