Opinion

Whoa — not so fast City Council on Tobacco21

Click ahead to see which San Antonio-area schools had the most students involved in drug-related incidents in 2015-16, the most recent year of data available. There is a push to prohibit 18- to 20-year-olds from legally purchasing cigarettes, though they are permitted other adult behaviors. This is discrimination, says guest columnist Paul DiGiovanni.the most recent year of data available. less Click ahead to ... more There is a push to prohibit 18- to 20-year-olds from legally purchasing cigarettes, though they are permitted other adult behaviors. This is discrimination, says guest columnist Paul DiGiovanni. Photo: Gene J. Puskar /Associated Press Photo: Gene J. Puskar /Associated Press Image 1 of / 41 Caption Close Whoa — not so fast City Council on Tobacco21 1 / 41 Back to Gallery

Tobacco21, a public health nonprofit organization, has arrived in San Antonio looking to help our city reduce nicotine consumption and addiction for the betterment of public health. Its current focus is to influence our municipal and state governments to raise the legal minimum sales age of tobacco to 21 years old.

Over the past four years, it has been wildly successful —25 percent of America is now regulated by “Tobacco21 laws,” including California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

The success of Tobacco21 should come at no surprise. The group’s reputation is stellar, with endorsements from several highly respected health organizations, such as the American Heart, Lung, and Medical Associations. And, its cause is noble. It wants to prevent people from developing addictions to nicotine, which is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the United States.

The laws and ordinances promoted by Tobacco21 make a difference. Tobacco21 cites evidence from studies our history on raising the drinking age from 18 to 21, which it claims resulted in youth alcohol usage and binge drinking to fall by a third.

So it’s fair to assume that Tobacco21 laws will lower tobacco usage and reduce disease and death related to it.

But is a prohibition for young adults the best solution for San Antonio? Is it even a good solution? There’s a lot more to consider than what the city and our Metro Health Department presented at the recent Community Health and Equity Committee meeting.

Tobacco21 laws are inherently discriminating against young adults. Our 18- to 20-year-old citizens, under Tobacco21, will not be able to purchase tobacco from law-abiding retailers, but they will continue to do a number of adult things, such as serve in our military, work full-time and pay taxes, drive automobiles and motorcycles, purchase and openly carry rifles, have sex and become parents, and be tried as adults in the court of law (and be sentenced under the death penalty).

This is targeted discrimination of adults based on their age and it should not be taken lightly. Maybe we should include senior citizens in the ban?

Let’s also consider that prohibition of tobacco purchases will lead to a rise in dangerous, non-regulated markets. Young adults who have no interest in hard drugs will seek out underground dealers for a pack of smokes, creating a new crop of criminal behavior from what used to be a lawful sale of goods at a regulated business.

District 9 Councilman John Courage stated that he would not support an ordinance if possession by young adults were to be made criminal. Well, Tobacco21 wants to make all young adult tobacco users criminals. It is recommending that a state law be drafted to make possession illegal. If Tobacco21 gets its way, we will be handing over even more authority and responsibility to our armed police officers to enforce petty crimes.

Before we slide Tobacco21 through the City Council, we should explore other options:

We could promote education that empowers young people and parents to choose not to use tobacco.

We could help active tobacco abusers break their life-threatening addiction.

We could implement a municipal tax on tobacco products.

We could implement a ban on smoking in public parks.

We could raise the minimum tobacco sale age to 19 before jumping all of the way to 21.

But unfortunately, the city and our Metro Health department seem to be love-struck by Tobacco21. They have shared no policy alternatives with the public and raised no serious conflicting viewpoints. I believe ‘we deserve’ a more unbiased and thorough process from City Hall. Instead, the ordinance proposal is quickly moving to a Council B-Session by the end of November, and a Council A-Session vote in December.

I am pleading for our council to ensure that a full discussion is held on this major issue. Blindly emulating other states and cities is a tired strategy that continues to painfully drive a wedge between the clique of downtown politicos and the great people of San Antonio.

Paul DiGiovanni is the founder and moderator of Ideas For CoSa on Facebook — San Antonio’s most active town hall discussion group.