Lakewood Passes an Ordinance to License Tobacco Retailers
On Monday, January 28, 2019, the
designed to protect youth from tobacco. The ordinance requires that any business selling non-cigarette tobacco (including vape) products in the City of Lakewood purchase an annual license. In addition, the ordinance includes the following provisions:
- Tobacco retail businesses must examine customer identification to confirm that individuals purchasing non-cigarette tobacco products are at least 18 years of age.
- Clerks under 18 are not permitted to sell, stock, retrieve or handle non-cigarette tobacco products.
- Tobacco self-service displays are prohibited, except for in tobacco businesses with age restrictions for entry.
- New tobacco retail businesses are prohibited within 500 feet of a youth-oriented facility.
The Citizens for a Healthier Lakewood (CFHL) coalition and Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) began educating Lakewood city staff about the importance of tobacco retailer licensing in 2016. At that time, the City tasked the Lakewood Advisory Commission (LAC), comprised of community members, with researching the issue of youth tobacco use and the effectiveness of a licensing ordinance. For more than two years, CFHL members and JCPH staff continued to provide information to the LAC and City Council about the importance and effectiveness of tobacco retailer licensing. In July 2018, the LAC finally presented its findings and recommendations on this issue to the City Council, which led to a study session in October 2018. By this time, community leaders’ concerns about youth vaping had grown substantially. These concerns, coupled with the knowledge that 17% of tobacco retailers in the City of Lakewood had been found to sell tobacco to minors,* primed the Council to take action. First and second ordinance readings took place in January 2019 resulting in NCTRL ordinance passing unanimously. The new ordinance goes into effect March 2, 2019, making Lakewood the 12th, and largest, community in Colorado to license tobacco retailers (it is estimated that Lakewood has at least 250 retailers selling tobacco at this time). The annual license fee will be used to fund administration and strong enforcement of the license, including local compliance checks. The amount of the license fee will be officially set on February 25th and is estimated that it will be close to $350. More information will be available on the City of Lakewood’s Ordinance O-2019-1 in the coming weeks in
Section 5.06 of the Lakewood Municipal Code
. *2017-2018 results from compliance inspections conducted in the City of Lakewood under the FDA’s authority
The associated files and links are available below.