The new tobacco shop laws were signed into law by Mayor Justin Elicker on Thursday, and city authorities from New Haven attended to witness the event.
Both concerns from local people and problems at a few of the stores that were investigated by the health department led to the creation of the laws.
“And found that there were other substances being sold other than tobacco products,” City Health Director Maritza Bond stated.
Ward 27 Alder Richard Furlow stated that he is aware of this issue and hears about it frequently.
“There was a big drug bust in my ward where they had over a thousand ecstasy pills that were being sold out,” Furlow stated.
He was a member of the working group that investigated the problems at smoke shops and the potential solutions to those problems.
As a consequence of this, the new licensing regulation requires that tobacco stores and smoke shops obtain a license from the Health Department in order to provide their customers with the ability to purchase tobacco products.
A regulatory framework for the transactions will be overseen by the department. On October 1st, the deadline for obtaining a license is.
Smoke shops will be required to comply with window advertisement laws, which will assist decrease sales to children. This requirement will be in addition to the already existing license requirement.
“We’ve been hearing a lot of complaints from folks who are fed up with the spread of smoke shops all over town, the advertising that’s trying to get our kids addicted to these harmful products,” Ward 7 Alder Eli Sabin stated.
Zones are addressed in the second ordinance that was signed.
According to this regulation, new tobacco shops must be located at a distance of 3,000 feet from one another and 1,000 feet from any schools, parks, or places of worship.
“We have 212 tobacco and nicotine retailers in a city of 139,000, we don’t need any more of these shops,” Mayor Justin Elicker stated.
The acquisition of licenses by convenience stores and gas stations is anticipated to result in an increase in the overall number of tobacco wholesalers and retailers.
Under the new zoning regulations, there is only one small plot of land that is available for a new smoke shop to operate. This is due to the fact that there are already a number of smoke shops in the city.
Existing smoke shops would be required to close, and the new business would have to be built at a distance of three thousand feet from the next smoking shop.
“The illegal activity and the quality of life issues that have come up at a lot of these smoke shops in our neighborhoods, it’s time to crack down and make sure that these businesses are operating according to the law,” Sabin stated.
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