Laserfiche WebLink
ORDINANCE NO. 2021- 008 <br />AN ORDINANCE OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA, <br />AMENDING CHAPTER 313 (MERCHANDISING OF <br />TOBACCO PRODUCTS) OF THE CODE OF INDIAN RIVER <br />COUNTY, RELATED TO THE USE OF TOBACCO <br />PRODUCTS AND ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES; TO <br />PROHIBIT THE SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF TOBACCO <br />PRODUCTS AND ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES TO <br />PERSONS UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE AND PROVIDING <br />FOR ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SALE OF <br />TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND USE OF ELECTRONIC <br />CIGARETTES; PROVIDING FOR PENALTIES; PROVIDING <br />FOR CONFLICT AND SEVERABILITY; PROVIDING FOR <br />CODIFICATION; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE <br />DATE. <br />WHEREAS, Indian River County recognizes that the use of tobacco products has <br />devastating health and economic consequences; and <br />WHEREAS, commercial tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of <br />premature death in America, with tobacco use responsible for 480 million deaths annually; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, tobacco product use leads to more than $300 billion in healthcare and <br />lost worker productivity each year, and tobacco use costs the State of Florida $8.64 billion <br />in healthcare costs annually; and <br />WHEREAS, young brains are particularly susceptible to the addictive properties of <br />nicotine, which can result in addiction to other drugs; and <br />WHEREAS, a 2012 Surgeon General's report found that almost 90% of smokers <br />in the United States began smoking before the age of 21; and <br />WHEREAS, an estimated 5.6 million youths under the age of 18, approximately 1 <br />in 13 Americans 17 years or younger alive today, are expected to die prematurely from <br />smoking related illness; and <br />WHEREAS, a National Academy of Medicine report predicts that raising the <br />minimum legal age of the sale of tobacco products nationwide to age 21 would result in <br />223,000 fewer premature deaths, 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer,, and 4,200,000 <br />fewer years of life lost for those born between 2000 and 2019. In addition, the report <br />concluded that raising the minimum legal age of sale would result in near immediate <br />reductions in preterm birth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome;.and <br />