Phillip Morris Says, "You Should Be Furious: Sonoma County Wants to Raise Tobacco Prices”

[Jacob Rich]

Recently the attached flyer has been appearing at tobacco retailers in the Russian River area and possibly in other areas of Sonoma County. The flyer reads:

You Should Be Furious!
Sonoma County Wants to Raise Tobacco Prices
County Politicians want to set a minimum price of $7/pack
Call your county official today!(707) 565-2241
Citizens for Tobacco Rights
Information provided by Altria Client Services Inc. on behalf of Phillip Morris USA and John Middleton

The flyer is in reference to the Tobacco Retail License the County Board of Supervisors are considering for
unincorporated Sonoma County on September 1st. At this point, other than the tobacco retailers there is little community awareness and action action related to this issue. Since the County Supervisors are responsive to the community that they hear from, I would like to suggest that if you are “furious” or concerned, please consider sharing your thoughts here and with the County Supervisors ((707) 565-2241 or email them here)

Why raise the price of tobacco? Raising the price of tobacco has been shown to be the most effective strategy to reduce youth adult smoking rates.

Is tobacco use a concern in West County and Sonoma County? Recent California Healthy Kids Survey data (2011-2013) estimates that the West Sonoma County Union High School District has the highest female teen smoking rate in the County as well as an overall teen smoking rate that is higher than both the County and State averages. Sonoma County’s countywide teenage smoking rate is also higher than for the State overall (13.7% versus 10.2%). Nearly nine out of ten life-long smokers start by age 18, establishing an addiction to nicotine before they are old enough to understand the harms. Tobacco is also a social justice issue as people with lower-incomes and less education, and certain racial and ethnic minorities, as well as the LGBT community are more likely to smoke, so they bear a bigger share of the disease burden caused by the tobacco use epidemic.

What are the health and economic costs of tobacco in Sonoma County? Tobacco remains the #1 cause of preventable death in the U.S. and costs approximately 570 premature deaths as well as an estimated $277.7 million (in 2009) in our County each year in direct healthcare costs and indirect costs from lost productivity due to illness and premature deaths. The American Cancer Society says (2012) that the true health-related costs of a pack of cigarettes is $35, more than five times the average cost of a pack of cigarettes.

Can underage youth purchase tobacco in Sonoma County? 69% of the County’s 11th graders report that it’s “fairly” or “very” easy to obtain cigarettes. Findings from a youth tobacco purchase survey conducted in February, show that unincorporated Sonoma County has a higher percentage of retailers selling tobacco to minors than the State of California overall (18% versus 9%). This means that Sonoma County teens, and in particular those living in unincorporated areas where retailers sell at higher rates to minors, are at an increased risk for being life-long smokers and a laundry list of negative health consequences.

What is a Tobacco Retail License ordinance (TRL)? The ordinance calls for requiring tobacco and e-cigarette retailers in Sonoma County’s unincorporated areas to pay a fee and renew their county issued license annually. The fees would pay for enforcement and compliance activities in order to prevent youth from purchasing tobacco products. The current one-time license fee that retailers pay of $100 is not sufficient to conduct education and compliance activities.

TRL's have been shown to reduce youth access to tobacco on average by 26% percent. TRLs have been passed in more than 140 jurisdictions in California including recently in Healdsburg and the City of Sonoma.

The ordinance could be approved with or without additional policy provisions or add-ons that would significantly strengthen the effect of the ordinance.

As it stands, some of the notable policy provisions include:

• NO NEW TOBACCO/E-CIGARETTE RETAILERS WITHIN 1,000 FEET OF SCHOOLS: Current tobacco/e-cigarette retailers would be grandfathered in and allowed to get licenses.

• E-CIGS WOULD BE DEFINED AS TOBACCO PRODUCT: Several recent studies, including by University of California at San Francisco researchers, have found e-cigarettes to be a gateway for smoking cigarettes among adolescents in the United States as well as making them less likely to quit. According to the CDC, in 2014 13.4% of high school students reported that they used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days—an increase from 1.5% in 2011. The Surgeon General and FDA have found that nicotine found in e-cigarettes impacts fetal and adolescent brain development and that e-cigarettes also contain harmful chemicals including carcinogens. Most e-cigarettes are not currently regulated by the FDA, but the ordinance would define tobacco product and paraphernalia to include all nicotine and non-traditional products such as e-cigarettes so that they would be included in the ordinance.

• SET A MINIMUM PRICE FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS: Raising the price of tobacco is shown to be the most effective strategy to reduce youth and young adult smoking rates and is an important provision in the ordinance. The average price for a pack of cigarettes in California is $5.76, which ranks 24th in the nation and far behind leading states like NY, where the avg. cost is $10.29. A minimum price of $7 per pack of cigarettes represents a modest price increase; one that creates a barrier for youth while limiting the impact on adults.

Link to a summary of the proposed policy provisions

Local institutions including West County Health Centers, West Sonoma County Union High School District and the Palm Drive Health Care District Board have adopted resolutions in support of the unincorporated ordinance because of the impact it would have on the health of our local youth.

As I said before, there is little community awareness and action action related to this issue. I would like to suggest that if you are “furious” or concerned, please consider sharing your thoughts here and with the County Supervisors- (707) 565-2241 or email them here

Thank you for considering this,
Jacob Rich, MPH
Community Outreach Coordinator
Russian River Area Resources and Advocates
(707) 824-6508
[email protected]

[Sandy2y]

If packs of cigarettes were rolled with pot $7 per pack would be cheap...sandy

[Shandi]

Ordinarily I wouldn't read anything to do with cigarettes, since it's not in my immediate radar, having never been a smoker, and having a high sensitivity to cigarette smoke. But I read your entire post, and agree that raising the price may be a deterrent for young people, etc. I didn't realize that so many teens are smoking; I thought they preferred cannabis. I don't know too many people who smoke both. Thank you for this enlightening post.

Recently the attached flyer has been appearing at tobacco retailers in the Russian River area and possibly in other areas of Sonoma County. The flyer reads:

You Should Be Furious!
Sonoma County Wants to Raise Tobacco Prices....