HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-14 CHC PacketAgenda
Community Health Commission
City Of Edina, Minnesota
Edina City Hall - Community Room
Monday, October 14, 2019
6:30 PM
I.Call To Order
II.Roll Call
III.Approval Of Meeting Agenda
IV.Approval Of Meeting Minutes
A.September 9, 2019 Draft Meeting Minutes
V.Community Comment
During "Community Comment," the Board/Commission will invite residents to share relevant issues
or concerns. Individuals must limit their comments to three minutes. The Chair may limit the
number of speakers on the same issue in the interest of time and topic. Generally speaking, items
that are elsewhere on tonight's agenda may not be addressed during Community Comment.
Individuals should not expect the Chair or Board/Commission Members to respond to their
comments tonight. Instead, the Board/Commission might refer the matter to sta% for
consideration at a future meeting.
VI.Reports/Recommendations
A.Draft Advisory Communication - Flavoring
B.Update from Council Work Session
VII.Chair And Member Comments
VIII.Sta- Comments
IX.Adjournment
The City of Edina wants all residents to be comfortable being part of the public
process. If you need assistance in the way of hearing ampli2cation, an
interpreter, large-print documents or something else, please call 952-927-8861
72 hours in advance of the meeting.
DRAFT MINUTES
Community Health Commission
September 9, 2019 at 6:30 PM
City Hall, Community Room
I.Call To Order
II.Roll Call
Present: Julia Selleys, Amanda Herr, Andrew Johnson-Cowley, Rob Loesch,
Christy Zilka, Greg Wright, Britta Orr, Alison Pence, Madeline Olson, Amy
Wang.
Absent: Dena Soukup
III.Approval Of Meeting Agenda
Motion by Greg Wright to approve meeting agenda with addition of vaping
to item 6A. Seconded by Andrew Johnson-Cowley. Motion Carried.
IV.Approval Of Meeting Minutes
Motion by Andrew Johnson-Cowley to approve August 5, 2019 meeting
minutes. Seconded by Greg Wright . Motion Carried.
A.Minutes: Community Health Commission - August 5, 2019
V.Community Comment
VI.Reports/Recommendations
A.Discussion - Tobacco work plan items/Bloomington Public Health
Presentation
Discussion around options for additional regulation of tobacco/vaping products in
the City in an effort to reduce exposure to young people. Member Wright will draft
initial advisory communication for review by members.
B.AARP Work Plan Item Discussion
Discussion around current AARP work plan item. Cross-commission committee
has discovered that this initiative may be more resource intensive than initially
thought, this item may need to be revised or limited in scope in future work plans.
C.2020 Community Health Commission Work Plan
Discussion of items to be included in draft 2020 work plan to be submitted to
Council. Staff and chairs will format discussion into items for submission.
VII.Chair And Member Comments
VIII.Staff Comments
IX.Adjournment
Date: October 14, 2019 Agenda Item #: VI.A.
To:Community Health Commission Item Type:
From:Greg Wright
Item Activity:
Subject:Draft Advisory Communication - Flavoring Discussion
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
INTRODUCTION:
Draft advisory communication around flavored tobacco and vaping products for discussion.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Draft Advisory Communication - Flavoring
DRAFT
Subject: Community Health Commission recommendations regarding the City of
Edina e-cigarette regulations
Action requested:
The Edina Community Health Commission recommends that the City Council consider
revising City Code Chapter 12, Article VI, to reduce vaping by youth in the city by
banning the sale of flavored vaping products (unless such a policy is adopted by the
state or federal government prior to January 1, 2020).
Situation:
Youth use of electronic vaping devices has increased dramatically since 2015.
Nationally, roughly one quarter of high school students report vaping within the previous
month. Data from Edina are unavailable, but a student survey conducted by the
Bloomington Department of Health in 2019 found that [22%] of high school seniors in
[Bloomington/Richfield? School systems] used vaping devices. Some fifth grade
students indicated they had experimented with vaping. Nationally, [97%] of teens
surveyed indicate they use flavored vaping liquids. Of those young people, [62%]
indicate they use only nicotine-free flavored liquids while [14%] reported the use of
nicotine-containing products. Typically, labels on fluid containers fail to list ingredients,
including nicotine, leading investigators to speculate that a much higher proportion of
students are, indeed, using products containing nicotine, albeit unwittingly. Young
people who vape may therefore find themselves addicted to nicotine, a known toxin.
They are also at greater risk to progress to the use of tobacco products.
Prohibiting the sale of flavored vaping liquids in Edina creates an appropriate message
to the youth of Edina, that vaping places them at risk for short- and long-term health
risks. Furthermore, prohibiting those sales reduces availability of vaping products to
those youth who are tempted, or determined, to start or persist in the use of vaping
devices. While those more determined youth may obtain vaping products in other
municipalities or from older siblings, friends, or adults, the decreased local availability
may discourage at least some. By enacting a blanket prohibition of sales of flavored
products in Edina, regardless of the ages of users, availability of those products to youth
will become increasingly difficult. Reducing the known and unknown risks of vaping will
aid in the protection of citizens of all ages, not just the young. Furthermore, other
governmental units may reasonably be expected to adopt a similar prohibition, as
Hennepin County has already done, thereby limiting geographic availability of flavored
liquids in a fashion similar to the spread to surrounding municipalities of Edina’s
pioneering prohibition of tobacco sales to those under 21.
Faced with the evidence of widespread vaping by youth, the Community Health
Commission began to consider policies to minimize youth vaping during its August 2019
meeting, unaware that within weeks early reports of severe, sometimes fatal, pulmonary
disease related to vaping would begin to emerge. Within 6 weeks of the initial reports,
over 1000 cases of severe pulmonary disease, with over 20 fatalities, were reported.
The etiology is under investigation, but initial data suggest these cases are related to
the use of non-commercial products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), although
vitamin E and other lipids are also suspect. Given that only those who vape are at risk
for this devastating illness, it is imperative that measures be taken to strongly
discourage everyone, not just youth, from vaping. The FDA has formally recommended
against vaping by anyone, regardless of age. President Trump has advocated a national
ban on the sale of flavored products, particularly to decrease the attractiveness of
vaping to youth who may have no prior history of tobacco use. Thus far, the FDA, which
has heretofore not regulated vaping products to any significant degree, has indicated
that it is obtaining data from manufacturers of vaping devices to analyze manufacturing
processes and marketing strategies. Nevertheless, the manufacture and sales of
flavored vaping products has not been prohibited. Currently, manufacturers are not
marketing flavored liquids, most likely in an attempt to “fly under the radar” at a time of
national concern over vaping-related lung disease. Juul, the largest manufacturer, now
sells flavored products only on line, not in stores, but flavored liquids remain available at
retail outlets. The FDA will soon begin to conduct a review of the [manufacturers
practices] with the implied threat that the industry will become significantly regulated,
but those developments will probably require years of evaluation, development of
regulations, and subsequent litigation before any effective laws or policies are fully in
force. The Community Health Commission suggests that in the meanwhile Edina join
multiple other municipalities in prohibiting sale of flavored vaping products which serve
as an entrée to nicotine addiction, tobacco use, and serious, even fatal, lung disease.
Background:
The deleterious effects of tobacco use and nicotine addiction were summarized well in
the request from the Community Health Commission (March 7, 2017) to the City Council
requesting that the minimum age for legal purchase of tobacco be raised to 21 (see
Attachment X).
Electronic delivery devices for vaping (“e-cigarettes”) first appeared on the market in
2007. The devices were marketed as a safer means to deliver nicotine without the
many other products of combustion of tobacco. The medical community began to
suggest that smokers substitute e-cigarettes to transition to smoking cessation, or at
least to minimize exposure to manifold toxins. Nevertheless, a variety of solvents used
in vaping liquids, such as glycerol, may have unknown long-term effects which have not
yet become apparent. Since the time of their introduction, e-cigarettes have not
undergone evaluation or significant regulation by the FDA of any other federal agency.
Only in 2019 does the FDA plan to conduct a rigorous review of all aspects of the
electronic delivery device industry.
Manufacturers of electronic delivery devices and producers of vaping liquids initially
developed tobacco-flavored products but soon began to offer flavored products in
parallel to the offerings of menthol and other flavors by cigarette manufacturers. The
manufacturers, particularly Juul, realized the potential to develop a youth market by
offering flavored products, including ostensibly nicotine-free products packaged in
attractive, easily concealed devices. Marketing efforts even included presentations at
high school assemblies in which, according to student reports, the products were
promoted as “completely safe”. As commercial manufacturers marketed their product,
illicit drug marketers developed in parallel products containing CBD, THC, and other,
often poorly defined, products. The explosive growth of vaping amongst youth,
powered by flavored products and social desirability to be “cool”, has led to widespread
exposure to nicotine, other chemical vapors, and illicit toxins. As a consequence, most
of those afflicted with vaping-related lung disease have been young people.
Although the primary concern of the Community Health Commission is with the
explosive growth of vaping by young people, the deleterious effects of vaping, including
fatal lung disease, are matters of concern for all citizens regardless of age.
Manufacturers and others have claimed that elimination of flavored products from the
market would reduce the number of tobacco smokers who choose to cease smoking by
transitioning to (allegedly) less harmful e-cigarettes. Given that smokers are
accustomed to the taste of tobacco, and would still have the option to use tobacco-
derived vaping products, this argument does not seem strong enough to justify the
ongoing availability of flavored products that are primarily directed toward youth.
Recommendation:
The Edina Community health Commission recommends a revision to the Edina City
Code Chapter 12, Article VI, to prohibit the sale of all flavored vaping liquids within city
limits. Local and national momentum is accelerating for this measure. If the Minnesota
state or federal government enacts such a provision within the first quarter, 2020, no
revision of Chapter 12,Article VI would be necessary. In the meantime, the Commission
recommends a review of the ordinance and public hearings in anticipation of a local
need to revise the ordinance in question in the event of a failure of action by state or
federal governments.
Date: October 14, 2019 Agenda Item #: VI.B.
To:Community Health Commission Item Type:
Report and Recommendation
From:Amanda Herr - Chair, Julia Selleys- Vice-Chair
Item Activity:
Subject:Update from Council Work Session Information
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
INTRODUCTION: