HomeMy WebLinkAbout1/21/2020 Item 15, Siegel
Tonikian, Victoria
From:Kevin Siegel <kevin.siegel94@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday,
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:citywide tobacco ban item on council meeting agenda 1/21/2020
hello, my name is Kevin Siegel, i am writing to the council today out of concern that the city would ban all flavored
tobacco products. as an adult, my rights are constantly being restricted and eroded away. as an adult, i understand the
risks of using tobacco products. in fact, my parents made sure i knew that tobacco use can result in premature death. i
am a daily user of smokeless tobacco (chew). what i don't understand about this proposed ban is, why are everyday
adults being punished because of teenage tobacco use? after all, teenage tobacco use is the main reason most cities
have adopted flavored tobacco bans. i don't feel its the general populations responsibility to ensure teens behave
according to the law. it is however, the parents responsibility.
the real questions that need to be asked are, where is teens getting tobacco products? how is it that parents aren't
being more responsible with their children? and lastly, how is this proposed ban going to affect our ENTIRE city
population. sometimes i feel like citizens opinions fall on deaf ears in the council. the city could ramp up enforcement on
illegal tobacco sales. schools could proactively weed out the tobacco issue instead of passing the buck to the citizens of
SLO. youth smoking education? the list of potential remedies goes on. if you are to enact a ban, at least make it about
flavored vaping. only 4.8% of teenage smokers use smokeless tobacco. (CDC data 2019) 5.8% use cigarettes. 27.5% use
e-cigarettes. please consider whether to punish everyone for a small groups behavioral issues.
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