60 / 60
NATO, which closely monitors all reg-
ulatory activity involving tobacco, proac-
tively addresses proposed restrictions at the
local level through its NATO Local Project.
“NATO staff obtains a copy of the actual or-
dinance and we review the draft to find out
exactly what restrictions or regulations are
being proposed,” Briant explains. “We then
find out which retailers are located there
and all retail NATO members are sent an
alert letting them know that one has been
proposed; the terms of the ordinance; the
names, address and emails of local elected
officials; talking points to use as to why it
should not be adopted; and the date, time
and place of any public hearing on the or-
dinance so they know where they should
be and what they should say. In many cases
NATO will send its field staff into a city or
county to personally visit retailers and help
them contact local officials and prepare to
testify at a public hearing.”
The association’s lawyers will also send for-
mal comments to city councils or boards in-
forming them that NATO represents retailers
in the locality explaining the issues of adopt-
ing the regulations from their standpoint, says
Briant, who urges retailers who hear about a
local ordinance to call NATO’s toll free line at
866-869-8888.
“More than likely our monitoring services
will have alerted us, but not always because
sometimes proposals are made one day and
a hearing is held the next day,” he says. “It’s
also important to urge your adult customers
to email and call their local officials because
they will be affected; they will no longer be
able to buy locally. Retailers and their adult
customers need to attend the city or town
public hearing and [be] contacting local of-
ficials to let them know that you are a local
business owner and that, while you share their
concern about underage youth not having ac-
cess to tobacco products, the ordinance will
only serve to [drive business elsewhere] and
not solve the problem of social sources.”
TBI
Eight states
have cities, towns
and counties
where local bans
or restrictions on
tobacco use have
been proposed
or adopted.
Depicted in blue are
those states that have
cities, towns or counties
that have proposed or
adopted higher legal age
requirements (19 or 21)
to buy and use tobacco.
The two red states have
adopted statewide
minimum age laws—both
restrict tobacco purchase
to age 21 and up.
The State-by-State Spread
As shown in the color-coded maps below,
regulatory activity is on the rise in many states.
[ 60 ]
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
[ 01
/
02
|
17 ]