Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin said one of his biggest frustrations with a proposal to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products in the city is the inability to enforce it.
On Monday, during a Cleveland City Council Health, Human Services & the Arts Committee meeting, Griffin and Dr. Dave Margolius, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, discussed tobacco legislation proposed by Mayor Justin Bibb last February. Bibb and the health department failed to get support from City Council.
Cleveland and a few other cities sued the state last month over a law that strips local governments of the right to regulate the sale of flavored tobacco products such as menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes. A judge issued a temporary restraining order on the state law, so for now, Ohio cities can regulate the sale of flavored tobacco products.
Margolius said the health department is raising awareness about tobacco cessation services and programs in the city, but passing policies could help make it easier for residents to quit.
“Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death in Cleveland,” Margolius said.
Griffin said he is concerned the law could lead to an underground market for the banned products. He also said it’s not that he doesn’t want to see the residents live healthier lives, but his concerns are around enforcing the policy.
He mentioned legislation the council had previously considered, including banning bakeries and restaurants from selling foods with trans fats, sugary drinks and, most recently, foods with high levels of sodium. Griffin said regulation shouldn’t be the only strategy for helping residents live healthier lives. Prevention and education are important too.
“Everyone likes to come to Cleveland and treat us like a big petri dish,” Griffin said. “I am only concerned with what we are passing, is [it] going to be followed through and implemented.”
Council Member Kevin Conwell, chair of the Health, Human Services & the Arts committee, told Griffin he didn’t want to push legislation without education. But, he said, if the legislation will help save lives, it deserves to be considered.
Margolius said that 375 cities across the country have passed bans on selling flavored tobacco products, including Toledo and Columbus. He also said while the council continues to consider the legislation, the department’s goal is to help people quit smoking.
“We are more than happy to keep the conversation [around tobacco] going,” Margolius said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Council approves grant for city’s health clinics
Last week, the city’s health department said it would begin offering tobacco cessation classes in June to residents who want to quit smoking.
Katrese Minor, director of community health initiatives, said residents in Cleveland need more support to quit smoking. Minor also said the health department’s goal over the next year is to increase awareness of cessation resources and remove any barriers for access to services for residents in the city.
“Education is important, resources are important, providing ease to access services is important,” Minor said. “But there are larger structural systems that need to change in order for someone to be successful.”
Minor also said the health department is working on a youth program for Cleveland public schools to talk about the effects of smoking on the body and share resources to quit tobacco or vapes.
Council also approved the health department’s acceptance of a $650,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Health for the Title X program, which provides reproductive health services and family planning. The grant will be used to support the department’s direct services at their two clinics, J. Glen Smith Health Center on St. Clair Avenue and McCafferty Health Center on Lorain Avenue.
Margolius said the funding from the state will help the department hire extra nurses, pharmacists and lab technicians and purchase supplies.
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