BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — On Thursday, March 2, the Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods Committee of the Bakersfield City Council held a meeting to address strategies for smoking prevention and reduction among young people.
Eric Arias, Bakersfield City Councilman for Ward 1 and a member of the Tobacco Free Kern Coalition, says his team has been working to implement more effective tobacco control efforts in the city.
"The tobacco retail license is really an effective tool for local cities and counties to implement that's really about protecting our youth. We know that there is an enormous issue when it comes to youth utilizing a whole swath of different types of tobacco-related products, whether that be vaping, whether that be smoking traditional cigarettes, and other different products. It seems like every other day, there's a new one coming out," said Arias.
Arias says the Tobacco Retail License (TRL) would allow the city to have better oversight of the retailers he says are "distributing" tobacco products to youth. He says tobacco retailers would pay a fee as a way of partnering with the Kern County Public Health Department to implement targeted enforcement and make sure tobacco products are not getting into the hands of people under the age of 21.
Arias says retailers who don't abide by the license could face penalties.
"On the back end, there is a tiered step process for people who violate once and for people who violate twice. The fine increasingly gets more expensive each time that you are caught distributing these types of products to our youth," said Arias. "I think, all said and done, it's really going to be an effective tool and a great partnership with the county's public health department so that we can really make sure that these products stay out of the hands of children."
Arias adds that the TRL has been a conversation at the table of the Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods Committee for quite some time, and he is optimistic it will be approved by the city council in the next few months.
But the committee's efforts don't stop there. Arias says after the recent establishment of the city's Park Rangers Program, they are also looking to bring solutions into our local parks.
"There is some conversation about whether or not we would equip them [the park rangers] with an additional tool to enforce no smoking in our parks, specifically when there are children in and around playground equipment, or when there's a sports team event that is happening," said Arias. "Really give them that extra tool so that they can do that enforcement."
The next meeting of the Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods Committee will be happening in April. 23ABC will be following up with the latest updates on their plans for TRLs in Bakersfield.
