New database will assist retailers in avoiding infractions against Chicago’s flavored tobacco ban.
The regulations for the flavored tobacco ban in Chicago have been finalized and an implementation timeline has been constructed. NATO suggests that its retail members review these new rules to avoid infractions.
In 2014, an ordinance was passed by the Chicago City Council and signed into law by Mayor Rahm Emanuel that bans the sale of certain flavored tobacco products at retail stores located within 500 feet of any public, private or parochial elementary, middle or secondary school, except in retail tobacco stores.
According to NATO, the Chicago Department of Health recently issued a set of final rules interpreting the ordinance ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. In addition, the Chicago Department of Health issued an “Implementation Timeline” for enforcing the flavored tobacco product ban. Copies of the Chicago flavor ban final regulations and the implementation timeline accompany this bulletin for those retailers with stores located within the City of Chicago.
NATO encourages its retail members with stores in Chicago to review the final rules since the flavored products banned in stores located within 500 feet of a school includes products that have menthol, mint, wintergreen and other flavors. Also, the Implementation Timeline includes information on letters that the Chicago Department of Health will be sending to retailers that the department believes are located within the 500-foot prohibition zone and how a retailer can file an objection to the decision that its store is within 500 feet of a school.
NATO has also revealed that the Chicago Department of Health, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protections maintain a non-exclusive database of flavored tobacco products that are cannot be sold near schools, unless in a retail tobacco store. The web address is: http://www.flavoredtobaccosearchengine.org/
If you are uncertain whether a tobacco product being sold is restricted, you can search the database by typing in the product information in the search box on the website. If you cannot find a particular product on this list or if you have any other questions about flavored tobacco products, you can send an e-mail question to [email protected].