Last week, local business owners attended the city council meeting to express their frustration about this potential ban.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus City Council is continuing the conversation surrounding a proposed flavored tobacco ban. The proposal has some businesses fired up.
“Listening to some of the opposition that want to ban flavored vaper products or flavored tobacco products, we’re not like on the street corner peddling to children. We’re legitimate businesses, you know we care about our community,” said Sarah Rutland, owner of Top Notch Vapor.
Last week at the first public meeting on this topic, local business owners filled the crowd to express their frustration about this potential ban.
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The city council is proposing a ban on flavored tobacco, which would include flavored vape and menthol products. The idea came from a Columbus Public Health study, which indicated minority communities are being targeted by tobacco shops.
According to the study, there were 160,000 smokers across Columbus and about 100,000 of those smokers were Black. The study found that nearly 60,000 black central Ohioans are using menthol and mint-flavored products.
On Wednesday night, the city council will speak with business owners surrounding the proposed ban, which would regulate the sale and distribution of flavored tobacco products across the city.
Many business owners are concerned, specifically, ones who only sell tobacco products. They say there is a benefit to products like a flavored vape that many of their customers depend on.
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Shayla Favor, who is leading this conversation, said racism is a public health crisis and the fact that minority central Ohioans are becoming addicted to tobacco products is concerning.
“We help people quit smoking every day, we still have people coming in wanting to quit smoking. That’s what this is designed for. That’s what it’s intended for. It’s a harm reduction tool,” said Favor.
The next public meeting on the proposed ban is Nov. 9.
