Attachment 2Subject:
Attachments:
FW: Lung Association Support - Flavored Tobacco Sales Prohibition
Los Gatos - Menthol - Letter of Support - 2017-05-15.pdf
From: Lindsey Freitas[mailto:Lindsey.Freitas@ilung.org]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2017 11:01 AM
To: Council; Clerk
Subject: Lung Association Support - Flavored Tobacco Sales Prohibition
Good Morning,
Please find attached a letter of support from the American Lung Association in California for the prohibition on the sale
of flavored tobacco products including menthol.
Thank you
Lindsey
Lindsey Freitas 1 Senior Director, Tobacco Control & Lung Health
American Lung Association in California
1531 I Street, Suite 201, Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916.585.7674 1 Email: Lindsey.Freitas@Lung.org
Cell: 530.906.0867
WE ARE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH
Join the FORCE for lung health. Find out how at www.lungforce.orq
ATTACHMENT 2
i
AMERICAN
LUNG
ASSOCIATION,
Board of
Directors
AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION IN CALIFORNIA
333 HEGENBERGER ROAD, SUITE 450, OAKLAND, CA 94621
phone: 510.638.5864 I fax: 510.638.8984
May 15, 2017
David Pogue The Honorable Marcia Jensen
Chair Mayor, City of Los Gatos
110 E. Main St
Mark Johnson Los Gatos, CA 95030
Vice -Chair
Stephen Legg
Treasurer
David Cooke, MD
Secretary
Susan Griffin
Immediate Past
Chair
Cheryl Calhoun
Stephen O'Kane
Steve Cramer
Afif El-Hasan, MD
Natalie Germuska
Billy Kim
David Madsen
Debbie Newman
Sue Padernacht
Lynn Paquin
Mary Strenn
Kristi VandenBosch
Olivia Gertz
President and
Chief Executive
Officer
Dear Mayor Jensen:
On behalf of the American Lung Association in California, the leading public
health organization fighting to reduce and prevent the lung disease, I am writing
to express strong support for policies that prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco
products, including menthol.
Each year in California, nearly 40,000 adults die from smoking -related causes
and over 12,000 kids become new daily smokers. According to a 2012 Report of
the U.S. Surgeon General, tobacco companies have a long history of using
flavored products to entice new, younger customers.1 Eight out of ten youth
smokers report that they initiated tobacco use with a flavored tobacco product,
and the younger a person is the more likely they will be to use a flavored tobacco
product.2'3
Despite the FDA's 2009 ban on the sale of flavored cigarettes, the market for
other types of flavored tobacco products such as cigars and e-cigarettes is
growing rapidly 4 Additionally, menthol flavors were excluded from the FDA ban
despite the evidence that menthol is also driving factor in tobacco initiation.
The American Lung Association stands in strong support of the proposed
ordinance's inclusion of menthol products. These products present a unique set
of challenges, both in their health risks and in the populations they affect.
Menthol tobacco is disproportionately used by certain populations, with over
80% of African American smokers and over 70% of LGBT smokers choosing
these products.54 Furthermore, we know that menthol users tend to be more
addicted and less able to quit smoking than non -menthol users.?
For these reasons, we urge the City Council to move forward with the th
ordinance, which will prohibit the sale of all flavored and menthol tobacco
products.
Visit lun .or /Callfornla C�Califomialung AmercanLungAssociatior
9 9 ® ®in California
By eliminating the flavored products that so many youth are drawn to, the proposed ordinance will
take an important step toward reducing to tobacco use in Los Gatos.
Thank you for your leadership and we hope that Los Gatos will continue to set a healthy example for
other Californian communities by supporting innovative, effective tobacco control policies.
Sincerely,
Vanessa Marvin
VP Public Policy and Advocacy
1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General.
Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2012. 12 Ambrose, BK, et al., "Flavored Tobacco Product Use
Among US Youth Aged 12-17 Years, 2013-2014," Journal of the American Medical Association, published online October 26, 2015.13
Villanti, AC, et al., "Flavored Tobacco Product Use Among U.S. Young Adults," American Journal of Preventive Medicine 44(4):388-391, 2013.
4 Campaign for Tobacco -Free Kids. Flavored Tobacco Products Fact Sheet.
https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0383.ndf 15 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, The
NSDU Report: Use of Menthol Cigarettes. 2009: Rockville, MD. 16 National Youth Advocacy Coalition, Coming Out about Smoking: A Report
from the National LGBTQ Young Adult Tobacco Project 2010: Washington. DC. 17 U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Preliminary scientific
evaluation of the possible public health effects of menthol versus non -menthol cigarettes. July 2013.
Subject: FW: Support for tobacco retail license ordinance
On May 15, 2017, at 4:19 PM, Cassie Ray <cassie.ray@cancer.org> wrote:
Dear Mayor Sayoc and Members of the Los Gatos Town Council:
Attached is a letter of support for the proposed tobacco retail license that would restrict the sales of
flavored tobacco products, restrict where tobacco retailers could locate, and prohibit sales of tobacco
products in pharmacies. ACS CAN supports these changes as an important strategy in reducing the
number of youth who become lifelong smokers, thereby protecting them from a deadly addiction and
the cancers it causes.
We appreciate your initial approval of this ordinance and we urge your final approval.
Cassie Ray 1 Northern California Government Relations Director
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.
700 Main Street Suite 102
Suisun City, CA 94585
Phone: 707.290.0003 l Mobile: 707.290.0003 1 Fax: 916.447.6931
acscan.orq
i0t*CancerAction
Network-
eir
aiscan.org
This message (including any attachments) is intended exclusively for the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain proprietary,
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message or any part of it. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately.
1
May 12, 2017
The Honorable Marico Sayoc
110 East Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030
Dear Mayor Sayoc and Members of the Los Gatos Town Council:
M
4.,..
Cancer Action
Networku'
ti,
American
Cancer
Society®
Id
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is committed to protecting the
health and well-being of the residents of Los Gatos through evidence -based policy and
legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN supports
efforts to reduce youth tobacco use, as tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable
cancer death in this country. We appreciate the leadership demonstrated by this council in
passing the first vote of a comprehensive tobacco retail license, that includes flavors —including
menthol --and we encourage final approval.
Tobacco retail licensing (TRL) in which there is an adequate fee to fund enforcement, as well as
meaningful penalties that include the permanent revocation of the license for repeat offenders,
is an important policy component to effectively reduce youth access to tobacco products.
Additionally, limiting access to tobacco products can reduce the appeal of these products to
beginning smokers and encourage others to quit.
Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. The 2014 U.S. Surgeon
General's report found that more than 43 million Americans still smoke, and tobacco use will
cause an estimated 480,000 deaths this year in the U.S. Both opponents of smoking and
purveyors of cigarettes have long recognized the significance of adolescence as the period
during which smoking behaviors are typically developed. National data show that about 95%
percent of adult tobacco users begin smoking before the age of 21. Adolescents are still going
through critical periods of brain growth and development and are especially vulnerable to the
toxic effects of nicotine. Postponing youth experimentation and initiation can help reduce the
number of youth who will ever begin smoking.
In 2009, Congress, prohibited the sale of cigarettes with flavors other than tobacco or menthol.
Tobacco companies responded by expanding the types of non -cigarette tobacco products they
offer, and now make most of those products available in a growing array of kid -friendly flavors.
Little cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah, and e-cigarettes, are marketed in a wide array of
sweet flavors and colorful packaging that appeals to youth. In 2014, for the first time, use of e-
cigarettes by California teens surpassed use of traditional cigarettes. Additionally, menthol has
long been used to attract new and young smokers, as well as marketed heavily to the African
American population. Consequentially, more than 85% of African American smokers smoke
menthol, and African American men now have the highest death rate from lung cancer when
compared to other demographic groups.
A growing body of research demonstrates that youth and young adults are particularly cost
sensitive. Many flavored single cigars or small packs of little cigars are available at very low
costs —some for less than $1.00. Youth are also location sensitive, and they are more likely to
experiment with tobacco products when retailers are located near schools, playgrounds,
libraries, or other youth sensitive areas. Additionally, the density of tobacco retailers has also
been associated with smoking rates.
The ordinance being considered also calls for prohibiting licenses for pharmacies. Pharmacies
are in the business of improving health, and it is a contradiction to be a facilitator of health and
wellness, while selling tobacco products alongside over-the-counter medications and
prescription drugs. Selling these products side -by -side helps to normalize tobacco use, and
serves to further obscure the deadliness of these products, and the cancer they cause.
ACS CAN supports the ordinance being considered, and we urge your final approval.
Sincerely,
Co. ¶c
Cassie Ray
Government Relations Director, Northern California
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
980 9th Street, Suite 2200 • Sacramento, CA 95814 • 707.290.0003