02-22-1993 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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•: ♦ ^4 Cigarettes bars .'iiul tit^Lior stores. rnschincs would bov; :y bo locotcd -.vitb^r. :bc VIC* of cr, employee, end cisarcitcs ______1^ J ..mK. vk.ltVl !h>» Continued from page lA «■ 1^ would be dispensed only with tl^eTobacco 3/7/f3 _ . . device.Wins one in House committee ^ By Dennis J. .VfcGrath SufTWnier The tobacco and vending machine induiiriei scored a major victory Tuesday in their eiTtirt to reverse the ter.s on cl„. - machines in nine Minnesota cii‘-?.. An industr. .'cmoted bill that would prohibit local com.munities , from bannins the machines was ap« proved by the House Commerce ■ Commiitce. V ' But the bill, whose author is Rep. i Bob McEachern, OFL-Maple Lake. ^ would ^ulate the location and ac cessibility of the m.achtses sutewide in much the same way as ordinances approved by more than a doaen eth er communities. Including Minne apolis ard St. Paul. The bill would prohibit and overturn existuig total bans on cigarette vend ing machines and prohibit new bans. Under McEache.m’i bill, which new goes \o the House door, cigarette machines would be banned from public places, with the exception of wv'rkplaoes. bars and liquor stores. In I Cigarettes continued on page 11A Supporters cf the bill said it wculd achieve what the bans and other re strictions on cijarcitc machines arc intended to do — prohibit minors from buying cigarettes. The bill would accampits.h that and presc.'ve the jobs of 20C to iOO .Mir.nesotart? who ser\ice the machines, said McEaenen. "There’s no doubt about it; it's a jobs bill.” he said. McEaehem cited a constiluent of his in 'loniiccilo w ho«e job involves ser- V icing cija.'eite mach,.nes. •‘The gentleman suppons his famly of five children.” said .vicEachern. "Why sho’uld I take his job away from him when ! can prevent the sale to minors?” Opponents of the bill, including elected oiTiciais from the municipal ities that have banned the mac.hincs. said the Legislature should net stop communities from imposing more rcsinctive regulations than state law. i.icluding u^e passage of ordinances for an ou:.'ig.hi tan. “I'm asking you (the Commerce Committee) to not take away the auLhonty of local elected oiltctals in our 0" n communities.” said Jefi7 Bnggs. mayor of W'hite Bear Lake, the llfsi .municipality in .Minnesota to ban the mac. ..ics. Todd Paulson, a council member f'cn Brooklyn Center, which .oted to ban the .machines Iasi week, said the bill probably would protect a lot more than 200 to 300 jobs. .Refe.ming 10 the health htoards of cigamtes. he said the bill would preserve jobs "am.ong cardiologists, respiratory therapists and undenakers." Cr tics included the state health com- misaioncr. Siiicr Mary .Madonna kshion. «no said smoking kills jbooi 4.>00 Minncsoians each year. Permitting iocai governments to ba.'i Cigarette mi.h),-ICS s a ■’mininvjni step to getting to that gc.il ’ oi having 3 s.mcke-free society by the year aOOu, she said. Opponents also said a locking device •.vcul.1 not eli.mtnate cigarette sales to miners, even though an .’.mployee who helps a minor buy eijarettes could be found guilty of a eross .mis- de.T.eanor. They also noted that em ployees might be ’oo busy to monitor the machines closely and cheek the ages of people buying cigarettes. Among those who tcsiiHcd on this point was Jordan Cushing, a l6-ycar- old student .^'om South High School in .Minneapolis. Working wii.h the Association for Nortsmokefs-Mtn.nc- sou to test how easy 't is to buy cigarettes from machines, Cushi.ng said she has succeeded in 90 percent of .her itte.r.pts in doaer.s of resta-u- ranis, bars, liquor stores and gas sta tions across four counties. In all cases, she p’urposciy let e.mployccs know i.hc vkas buying the cis^rettes. and iometi.mcs even asked for and received help from the employees, she said. ■ You have the choice of whether to sell cigarettes to children or not," said Cushing, "because kids are going to get the cif^rcttcs if those machines are still there. Any tee.nager car. look older if iney want to. They can act older if they want to.” Joe Lotspeic.h, director of cngineeri.ng for Automatic Products, a St. Paul vending .machine company, disputed that: "Believe me. vending machines can be controlled.... They can be as cfTectivc as an over-'he<ountef sale * in stopping cigarette sales to minors. Rep. .Mary .Murphy. DFL-Herman- lowft. proposed an amerdmc.'.t :o ' remove the ’preemption ’ clause | :rcm the biH. so local ordi.nances ■ could be more stringent i.han state law. But t.hat amendment -vas defeat ed 13-0. Local government! would siill be able to ban the machines, but only by rtvoxing cigarette sale licenses and ou’lawing the sale of ngarciies enure- i !v. ' • ♦ Trt Senile Cam^nercc Commiue« , ^ill ukc up the bal TbuiiJiv. 1 .