City Council Meeting Date: August 4, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Meleah Follen, Northfield Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention staff support
Ashley Gardner, Northfield Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention staff support
Title
Consider Ordinance Amending Northfield City Code, Chapter 30 - Health and Sanitation, Article II. - Tobacco (First Reading).
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council considers a motion to approve Ordinance Amending Northfield City Code, Chapter 30 - Health and Sanitation, Article II. - Tobacco (First Reading).
Summary Report:
Over the past seven months, the Northfield Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (N-ASAP) has been reviewing the City of Northfield's tobacco ordinance and discussing the desire to have the City Council consider updates to it. With the help of city staff and the city attorneys, a draft
for this update was created and was unanimously approved by the members of N-ASAP.
Members of N-ASAP are committed to and work diligently to prevent youth substance misuse. Throughout their efforts the topic of increased use of nicotine, particularly vaping products, among youth has risen to the forefront. On December 31, 2024, several members of the N-ASAP attended the Rice County Board of Commissioners meeting where they voted to end the sale of all flavored and menthol commercial tobacco products, raise the minimum clerk selling age, and prohibit coupons and promotions of commercial tobacco products. This was a critical first step in protecting our youth in Rice County from the harms of early nicotine use, but ultimately the Rice County ordinance update only impacted retailers in unincorporated Rice County, of which there are only five. To truly make an impact we believe ending the sale of flavors and menthol nicotine products needs to be expanded, and while we are hopeful that the state legislature will eventually create a statewide ban, until that happens, we are asking ou...
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