Richfield passes tobacco license limits, ban on flavored tobacco

For Mark Olson, retirement hinges on being able to sell the Minnoco gas station he owns on Penn Avenue in Richfield. But he's been worried he won't be able to find a buyer, now that the city has an ordinance that may make it impossible to transfer his tobacco license to the next owner.

In an effort to curb smoking and vaping — especially among younger people — the Richfield City Council passed new rules this week that will make tobacco licenses nontransferable, limit the city's number of tobacco licenses to four, and impose a ban on all flavored tobacco products, from menthol cigarettes to fruity vapes. The ordinance will take effect in 2024.

Public health advocates have been outspoken in favor of the changes, which they hope will curb smoking.

"Ending the sale of flavored and menthol tobacco products will have an immediate impact on Richfield residents," according to a statement from Bukata Hayes, vice president of racial health equity and chief equity officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. "It will save lives."

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, several people spoke in favor of the ban on flavored tobacco and a limit on tobacco licenses. They voiced concerns about smoking's health impacts and the way flavored tobacco products have been marketed to young adults and Black people.

But some business groups and local business owners say the changes could have unintended consequences, especially the measure that would limit their ability to transfer tobacco licenses.

Tobacco sales account for almost a fifth of the revenue at Olson's Minnoco station, he told the City Council on Tuesday. When he is ready to retire and sell the gas station, he said, the new owner would want that revenue and the tobacco license it requires. If he isn't able to sell, he said, he may not be able to retire.

He added that had he known his tobacco license would be nontransferable when he bought the station, "I probably wouldn't have bought it."

Jaime Rojas, of the Twin Cities-based National Association of Tobacco Outlets, raised a similar concern for owners of stand-alone tobacco stores who want to sell. "Many of our retailers in the city are recent immigrants who believe in the American dream," he said.

The association has also opposed flavored tobacco bans in other states.

The National Hookah Community Association, a trade group, sent a letter warning the council that a flavored tobacco ban would also prohibit hookahs. Rima Khoury, an attorney with the association, said the group sees bans on all flavored tobaccos as too broad and says bans don't really get at the problem of teen vaping.

"They are banning this 1,000-year cultural tradition that literally has nothing to do with vapes," Khoury said.

The association has advocated for flavored tobacco bans with carve-outs for hookah smoking, like California's ban, or exemptions for hookah lounges such as in Massachusetts.