The St. Paul City Council is considering two new restrictions on tobacco and alcohol retailers.
Under the first, the city would raise the legal minimum age to enter a liquor store from 18 to 21. Council members were presented with two versions of the ordinance, including one where even young people accompanied by someone of legal buying age would be barred.
Council Member Dai Thao’s office clarified on Thursday that the proposal before the council (“Version 1”) would still allow young people to enter a liquor store “if accompanied by an adult over the age of 21.”
Under the second restriction, which would be known as the Ed Owens Ordinance, no one under 21 would be allowed to buy tobacco and tobacco-related devices and products.
For tobacco sellers caught selling to buyers under age 21, repeated violations would be met with fines of $200, $400, $800 and a seven-day tobacco license suspension, or ultimately a license revocation.
At the same, the council could decriminalize possession. Thao said Wednesday he would propose eliminating existing misdemeanor penalties for youth who use fake identification to buy tobacco, and he would propose eliminating petty misdemeanor penalties for youth caught with tobacco.
Owens, who passed away unexpectedly in September 2018, was a clean energy advocate also active in anti-tobacco efforts in St. Paul’s black community.
Both ordinances have growing precedent in Minnesota.
More than 40 Minnesota cities have instituted similar restrictions on liquor store access. And, 29 cities and four counties in Minnesota have raised the legal buying age for tobacco to 21. In Minneapolis, the new age restrictions for tobacco took effect last year.
Both St. Paul ordinances are sponsored by Council President Amy Brendmoen and Council Members Dai Thao, Rebecca Noecker and Chris Tolbert.
The city council is likely to hold public hearings on both ordinances on Sept. 4.