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CITY, ND – (NewsDakota.com) Valley City Commissioners recently joined the battle to help tame “the wild west” of electronic-cigarette marketing according to Vicki Voldal Rosenau, tobacco prevention coordinator at City County Health. She says there is absolutely no FDA regulation of e-cigarette products and extremely limited control by state and local jurisdictions. She adds, leading health experts have likened the unrestricted promotion of e-cigarettes to the “Wild West” marketing of tobacco cigarettes in the 1950s.

Valley City Commissioners unanimously adopted an ordinance that requires Valley City businesses selling all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, nicotine liquids and related products, to obtain and maintain an annual city license.

City Commissioner Madeline Luke supports the ordinance. She says this city ordinance hopefully will make it harder for our kids to pick up a habit that is expensive, very hard to break and has known bad health effects.”

Valley City’s new statute, which took effect:

a) Limits the total number of future Valley City tobacco products licenses by population, but provides for current tobacco sellers to renew their licenses;

b) Prohibits selling flavored e-cigarettes, which often appeal to children with added, sugary flavorings;

c) Adopts a definition of “tobacco product” that explicitly includes electronic cigarettes, vaping materials, vaping equipment, etc., so that laws pertaining to tobacco cigarettes will automatically pertain to electronic cigarettes, as well;

d) By closing a loophole in the state’s related law, requires all tobacco and e-cigarette products be kept behind the counter in retail establishments; and

e) Bolsters the state’s minimum age requirement by locally codifying the prohibition of sales to minors.