City may limit who can sell tobacco
You must be 18 years old to legally buy cigarettes, but should you also be 18 in order to sell them? That is the question being tackled by members of the Park Ridge City Council's Public Safety Committee, who are considering whether to further regulate tobacco sales in the city.
According to a survey conducted by the Northwest Municipal Conference at the request of the Park Ridge Department, 12 out of 17 northwest suburban communities that responded have set 18 as the minimum age for selling cigarettes, including neighboring Des Plaines. Penalties include fines ranging from $20 to $1,000.
Currently, 16 and 17-year-olds are allowed to sell tobacco products in Park Ridge at the 18 establishments that have tobacco licenses.
By the end of last week's Public Safety Committee meeting, aldermen were split on whether an age restriction should be put in place. Aldermen Mark Anderson, Andrea Bateman and Frank Wsol were in favor of a restriction, while Aldermen Jim Allegretti, Kim Jones and Mary Wynn Ryan were against it.
Allegretti said an age restriction on selling tobacco would limit employment opportunities for teens. Jones said the restriction would not solve the problem of underage teens buying cigarettes.
"You'll still have establishments selling to minors," she said.
Bateman said if Des Plaines can have a rule on how old employees need to be to sell cigarettes, then there is no reason Park Ridge cannot have one.
Wsol asked if higher fines could be implemented for underage individuals caught selling tobacco to minors. Allegretti and Ryan indicated they were not in favor of that proposal.
During two recent tobacco sale stings conducted by police, employees at four Park Ridge businesses were cited for selling cigarettes to an underage, undercover informant. Two of these employees were 17 years old.
Some aldermen on the Public Safety Committee have expressed concerns that underage teens might be more likely to sell cigarettes to other underage individuals.
Bateman asked to defer further discussion of changes to the city's tobacco ordinance so more research can be conducted. She said she would talk to other communities to find out how they enforce age restrictions and why they passed restrictions in the first place.
