THIRD SUBSTITUTE ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago is a home-rule unit of government under Article VII, Section 6(a) ofthe 1970 Constitution ofthe State of Illinois and, as such, may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs, a category that includes the authority to legislate for the protection of the public health; and
WHEREAS, The enactment of ordinances and regulations designed to discourage the use of tobacco plainly meets this criterion; and
WHEREAS, The 18 to 20-year-old range is a critical time for new smokers. Adolescents are more vulnerable than older adults to nicotine addiction, which can harm brain development, and nine out of ten adult smokers start before age 21. Raising the legal age would put tobacco products on par with alcohol, and protect young adults from developing a dangerous lifelong habit; and
WHEREAS, Based on numerous studies, it is clear that high tobacco prices reduce tobacco consumption, both among youth users, who are especially price-sensitive, and among adults. A ten-percent increase in cigarette prices reduces demand among adult smokers by an average of four percent, and youth smokers are two-to-three times more price sensitive than adults. High prices reduce the prevalence of tobacco use, the probability of trying tobacco for the first time, the average number of cigarettes consumed per smoker, the initiation of daily smoking, and the initiation of daily heavy smoking. Moreover, reductions in the prevalence of smoking lead indirectly to even greater reductions by minimizing peer and parental influences, and by helping addicted smokers successfully quit; and
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago taxes cigarettes and e-cigarettes, but does not tax other tobacco products that are harmful to health, including cigars, smoking tobacco, pipe tobacco, and smokeless tobacco; and
WHEREAS, As cigarette prices have increased, smokers, particularly youth, have migrated to cheaper tobacco products. Li...
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