The city of Tempe, Arizona in the U.S. is considering making retailers buy a license to sell tobacco, including e-cigarettes.
A proposal from a council committee calls for a citywide registry of businesses that sell tobacco, along with a process to revoke licenses for retailers who repeatedly sell to minors, according to Frontera Desk.
It also suggests raising the age to buy tobacco products to 21. Federal law already prohibits purchases to anyone under 21, but Arizona does not have a similar state law.
Tempe will hold two community meetings and an online survey in March before the council takes up the issue in April or May.
Juul Labs has agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle a lawsuit by Arizona accusing it of fueling a vaping epidemic by marketing its products to minors.
The settlement, announced Nov. 23 by the office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, provides for $12.5 million to be set aside for anti-addiction programs. The remaining $2 million will go to a general consumer protection fund and litigation expenses.
As part of the consent judgment, pending court approval, Juul has committed to company-wide changes to its business practices to ensure that its products will not be marketed or sold to Arizona’s youth.
“Today’s settlement holds Juul accountable for its irresponsible marketing efforts that pushed Arizona minors toward nicotine and the addiction that follows,” said Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in a statement. “Combatting the youth vaping epidemic remains a priority for our office with both our undercover Counter Strike program and zero tolerance for vaping companies that mislead or deceive.”
Juul said the settlement is another step in its ongoing effort to “reset” its company and applauded the Attorney General’s plan to deploy resources to address underage use. “We will continue working with federal and state stakeholders to advance a fully regulated, science-based marketplace for vapor products,” the company wrote in a statement. “As part of that process, we will continue to support Tobacco 21 and enforcement against illicit and illegally marketed products, such as certain disposables, that jeopardize the harm reduction potential of alternative vapor products.”
The company said it remains in discussions with other key stakeholders about litigation related to its past as part of its commitment to earn trust.
In June, Juul settled a similar case brought by North Carolina.
The company still faces more than 2,000 lawsuits, including from state and local governments, accusing the company of creating a spike in nicotine addiction among teens by using fruit-flavored liquid pods, social media campaigns and free giveaways.
Altria Group, which in 2018 acquired a 35 percent stake in Juul, is also named as a defendant in many of the lawsuits.
Recreational marijuana is legal in the U.S. state of Arizona as of today. Proposition 207, also called the Smart and Safe Arizona Act, was approved by Arizona voters and will legalize marijuana possession and use by adults 21 and older.
Credit: Alex Person
The new takes effect today, Nov. 30, and also allows for the creation of establishments to sell recreational marijuana. However, not all of Arizona’s cities are excited about the new rules. Scottsdale could be the latest Arizona municipality to ban most recreational marijuana sales and cultivation within city limits before Prop 207 goes into effect.
Scottsdale’s City Council will consider a new ordinance to heavily restrict recreational marijuana sales in the city and ban its use on public property. The proposed ordinance would prohibit the sale and transportation of recreational marijuana except by a licensed medical marijuana dispensary.
Scottsdale would also ban marijuana testing facilities except for independent third-party labs that are certified and already authorized by the state. Prop 207 allows medical marijuana dispensaries to apply for state permission to sell recreational weed.
Cities must allow existing dispensaries to “to operate a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary and a marijuana establishment cooperatively at shared locations,” the new law states. Scottsdale’s proposed ordinance would also ban the use of marijuana in public spaces, including bars, common areas at apartment buildings, entertainment venues, hotels, restaurants and stores.
Council’s approval of the ordinance would put Scottsdale among a small but growing list of Arizona cities and towns choosing to impose similar bans. Both Gilbert and Sahuarita approved their own bans in October before voters even approved Prop 207.
Payson Town Council also passed its own ordinance in October allowing existing medicinal dispensaries to sell recreational pot and giving the Council strict oversight over new recreational outlets, according to the Payson Roundup.
The proposed Scottsdale ordinance appears positioned to pass when it goes before Scottsdale Council on Monday. The ordinance was placed on its consent agenda, which is typically reserved for non-controversial items that require no discussion.
Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield indicated she would support the measure. “I believe limiting recreational marijuana sales to existing medical dispensaries is reasonable and within the context of the law,” she said.
Even if Council approves the ordinance, the city could amend it at a later date to allow recreational marijuana operations. According to a City Council report, the quick implementation of Prop 207 necessitates the adoption of strict restrictions at the local level.
City staff is recommending the proposed ordinance as a stopgap until it can further study the impact of expanded use on the city. “Scottsdale should consider implementing the full prohibitions and regulations Proposition 207 allows now…and come back later to potentially add additional recreational marijuana uses and allowances in the future once the City can better study and analyze how to safely and effectively do so in a way that does not disrupt the public peace, health or safety,” the report states.
The ordinance is already having a trickle- down effect in Scottsdale. On Nov. 18, the applicant behind a proposed medical marijuana dispensary in the city’s Entertainment District asked the city Planning Commission to delay a hearing on the project, citing the pending ordinance.
Some 16 million Americans were added to the list of places that allow adults to use marijuana legally, after voters in New Jersey, Arizona, South Dakota and Montana on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved ballot measures on weed.
They will join about 93 million Americans who live in states that already have legalized weed, meaning about 1 in 3 Americans now live in states where marijuana is legal for anyone at least 21 years old, according to Politco.com.
South Dakota and Mississippi voters also approved measures to legalize medical marijuana on Election Day.
The momentum in states, including deep red parts of the country, should be a call to action for the federal government, said Steve Hawkins, the executive director of legalization advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
“Regardless of who controls the White House, the House and the Senate, we should demand landmark federal marijuana reform in 2021,” Hawkins said.
The New Jersey measure does not immediately legalize marijuana, however. The state Legislature still needs to pass legislation to implement legalization.
Marijuana legalization is on the ballot in five U.S. states on Nov.3, four of which are for recreational use. The financial crisis cause by the Covid-19 pandemic and potential to bring in more taxes are the motivation for the measures.
In less than 2 weeks, voters will decide on whether to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota. Mississippi will also consider a pair of ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana.
Despite COVID-19 risks, advocates managed to collect more than 661,000 signatures in four of those states in the 2020 election cycle to put the questions on the ballot, according to rollcall.com. Some began before the pandemic hit, while advocates with later deadlines added protective steps like using individual plastic-wrapped pens.
In recent years, 11 states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 years old or older, while 33 states plus the District have legalized medical marijuana for some patients.
If successful, as is likely in all the states this year except possibly Mississippi, the new legalization efforts could altogether bring in hundreds of millions in tax revenue, which could help blunt the impact of states’ plummeting revenue due to the economic collapse, according to rollcall.com.
Matthew Schweich, deputy director at the Marijuana Policy Project, said many supporters were already swayed by the revenue marijuana taxes bring in. The dire budget conditions of many states could increasingly become a strong argument in favor of legalization.
“Voters are aware of the fiscal pain that’s already here or coming down the road. I believe they’re seeing marijuana revenue as part of the solution,” he said.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO) obtained a $22.5 million judgment and a permanent injunction against New Jersey-based vapor company Eonsmoke, LLC. The ruling could set precedent for other states suing vapor companies over marketing practices.
“Eonsmoke is being held accountable for its unlawful conduct in Arizona, including marketing flavored vaping pods to children,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “If you are an Arizona retailer and have Eonsmoke products on your shelves, they are illegal. This final judgment includes comprehensive injunctive relief, and our office will continue to monitor Eonsmoke’s presence in Arizona and ensure its compliance with all state and federal laws.”
Eonsmoke is known for selling its Juul compatible fruit-flavored pods.
Arizona may have to visit the courts again in order to collect any funds from the judgment. Eonsmoke’s website launches with a statement saying it has ceased operations “due to rapidly declining circumstances, coronavirus, regulatory, and competitor litigations.”
The Consumer Protection Section of the AGO filed a consumer fraud lawsuit in January 2020 to stop Eonsmoke from selling illegal vaping products and targeting youth in Arizona. In October 2019, the FDA informed Eonsmoke that it was manufacturing and selling 96 illegal products that did not receive proper FDA approval.
“Eonsmoke is being held accountable for its unlawful conduct in Arizona, including marketing flavored vaping pods to children,” Brnovich said in a statement.
In February 2020, the Superior Court granted the State’s preliminary injunction request, ordering Eonsmoke to immediately cease the sales of illegal vaping products. In the wake of this ruling, the AGO’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit sent over 4,880 letters to retailers informing them that they were facilitating the sale of illegal vaping products, an article on sedona.biz states.
On July 27, 2020, the Court issued a final judgment against Eonsmoke. The judgment:
Permanently enjoins Eonsmoke from: (i) advertising, marketing, or selling any illegal products in Arizona; (ii) marketing, appealing to, or targeting underage consumers in Arizona; and (iii) providing any products to underage consumers in Arizona or distributing products to retailers with three or more violations of the underage sales statutes.
Awards the State a total judgment of $22,535,136:
$21,974,000 in civil penalties
$511,136 in disgorgement of revenues, and
$50,000 in attorneys’ fees
Also in January of 2020, the Arizona AGO, alongside numerous other states and local municipalities, filed a similar consumer fraud lawsuit against Juul Labs.
A bar in Chandler, Arizona is asking customers to vape outside because they worry vape clouds could spread Covid-19. The bar, Tom Ryan’s, recently took to their social media pages to inform customers that vaping was no longer allowed indoors.
Bar manager Paige Lokkessmoe said that after seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases it wasn’t sitting well with them to allow people to keep vaping inside, according to an article on azfamily.com. Numerous public health experts, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said there is no evidence e-cigarette vapor spreads Covid.19
“We decided to stop allowing vaping in the bar because we were, kind of, just looking at the vaping smoke and seeing it settle everywhere around us. And the concern is the ice [and] the bottles that have pour spouts on them,” Lokkessmoe said.
According to Dan Quan, a toxicologist from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, the droplets that people produce when they sneeze or cough are the same as when they exhale, say, a cloud of smoke.
“Let’s say I take a deep breathe in and I exhale forcibly, I mean, there are still some droplets that form– and that’s why we suggest everyone wear masks because it does cut down on the amount of droplets dispersed in the air,” Quan said, adding that if you’re going to vape, take it outside because the fresh air will help dilute the droplets. Vaping and smoking will still be allowed on the patio at Tom Ryan’s.
