At a City Council meeting Nov. 20, after a hearing regarding the sale of flavored tobacco products in St. Louis Park, the City Council unanimously voted to continue discussion about the flavored tobacco ordinance.

Sophomore Eitan Weinstein, who spoke in favor of banning tobacco, said he was asked to speak at the hearing to give a youth perspective on the topic.

“I thought that it was a really great idea (to speak) and something that I could help make a difference with,” Weinstein said. “It feels good to have my voice heard because I think that it’s really great that they’re having young people testify for this because it’s really an issue that affects a lot of young people.”

According to senior Gretchen Garman, a planning analyst with Hennepin County public health, she spoke at the City Council meeting to voice Hennepin County’s approval for the flavored tobacco ban.

“I spoke at this meeting tonight as an employee of Hennepin County Public Health. We work on tobacco prevention and control in our surrounding sister communities,” Garman said. “We have been working with the city of St. Louis Park on looking at different strategies to decrease access to youth tobacco. We are in support of speaking at this meeting.”

Pediatrician at Park Nicollet Hospital Melanie Lind-Ayres said flavored tobacco products are misguidedly portrayed as less harmful alternatives to attract youth buyers.

“I think they are marketed as sort of healthy, fun products that are terribly, deceivingly addictive. It’s just an entrance into addiction to other tobacco products, and long term addiction has so many terrible effects,” Lind-Ayres said.

Weinstein said in his testimony he wanted people to understand why younger people may choose to use flavored tobacco products.

“A lot of people do it just to try and fit in and be cool and everything, and that can cause a lot of problems because then later on they’ll maybe enjoy it a little too much,” Weinstein said.

Weinstein said if this ordinance is passed, he hopes other cities will follow St. Louis Park in banning these products.

“I’m hoping that it’ll make other city councils in the metro area decide that they should ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and hopefully it will just be harder to get and harder to access for young people,” Weinstein said.

According to Laura Silberfarb, who testified as a mother for the ordinance, if the ban passes, St. Louis Park will be the first city in MN to have both raised the tobacco sale age to 21 and ban the sale of tobacco flavored products.

The next meeting and discussion will occur 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at City Hall.