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MEMO <br />Date: January 9, 2025 <br />To: Saint Anthony Village City Council <br />From: Katie Engman, Association for Nonsmokers-MN (ANSRMN) with support from <br />the Public Health Law Center (PHLC) <br />Subject: Commercial Tobacco Ordinance Proposed Changes Sec 115 <br />Highlights: <br />●Cap the number of commercial tobacco licenses at zero through attrition; <br />●Price Discounting: <br />○Restrict the redemptions of coupons and price discounts; <br />○Set a minimum price and package sizes for commercial tobacco products; <br />●Align the minimum penalty structure set by Minn. Stat. §461.12. <br />Summary: <br />Based on the council discussion on 9/10/24 staff worked with ANSR and PHLC to revise <br />the SAV tobacco ordinance. The revisions are based on the model policy from PHLC <br />and include the following context. <br />Cap maximum number of licenses. Some jurisdictions have chosen to limit the <br />number of licenses granted. Based on your discussion you have requested draft <br />language to cap the number of tobacco retal licences at zero. In this case, the <br />language drafted allows the current number of licenses which is five to continue to <br />renew and reduced your number over time through attrition to zero. <br />Price Discounting: <br />Restrict coupon and price promotion. The price of tobacco products directly affects <br />the consumption levels, particularly among price-sensitive consumers, including youth, <br />young adults, and those with limited financial means. The commercial tobacco industry <br />uses innovative pricing strategies to entice new customers to purchase their products, <br />to discourage current users from quitting, and to reduce the effectiveness of tobacco tax <br />increases in decreasing tobacco sales and increasing users’ quit attempts. These <br />pricing strategies include “buy-one-get one” coupons, cents, or dollar off promotions, <br />and multi pack offers, which are often marketed and redeemed at the point-of-sale. <br />Jurisdictions can prohibit the redemption of these price discounts to negate the <br />sophisticated discounting strategies of the commercial tobacco industry. Several <br />jurisdictions in Minnesota have adopted this provision to keep the price of licensed <br />7