Clay County Commission

Dan Haglund

The Clay County Board of Commissioners heard more public opinions on the proposed countywide tobacco ordinance in a public hearing on Tuesday in Moorhead.
Last December, Clay County passed an ordinance 3-2 banning the sale of most flavored tobacco products, excluding menthol cigarettes and flavored chewing tobacco, in stores licensed by the county. The enforcement date was initially set for April 1 but was pushed back to June 1 after further board discussions and considerations.
The ban was driven by concerns about student use of vaping products, which are the most used tobacco products in Minnesota schools.
The ordinance does not apply to businesses in Moorhead, Dilworth, or Barnesville, which already had their own local laws regarding such a tobacco ban.
Jason McCoy, Clay County tobacco prevention coordinator, again shared additional supporting data that the flavored tobacco products are severe health threat to young people.
McCoy provided board members with data showing a correlation between nicotine content and the various products targeted for the ban.
“You can see very easily that vaping devices have anywhere from 40 to 400 milligrams of nicotine,” McCoy said. “To put that in perspective, that’s anywhere from two packs to 20 packs of cigarettes that might be in a flavored vaping device.”
McCoy also added that in Minnesota schools, 18 percent of students are users of this type of product.
Another flavored nicotine product called Zyn has about a 10 percent use rate in schools as well, he said. Their nicotine values range from three to eight cigarettes each.
The public comments came quickly after McCoy deferred to the podium.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with my principals recently, asking about this very topic,” said Shannon Hunstad, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton schools superintendent. “They have already had this year over 40-some instances (of students getting caught with flavored nicotine products). They figure it’s about 20 percent of our high school population and middle school. The shocking thing for them is the number of middle school kids that have started this habit. It’s the flavored vapes. It’s where they all start.”
D-G-F high school senior McKayla Bjelland went next.
“Please uphold the current tobacco ordinance ending flavored tobacco sales,” Bjelland said. “I have seen kids vaping in the bathrooms and hiding their vapes up their sleeves in class. Now recently, I’ve seen more students taking up Zyn, because it’s easier to hide.”
Bjelland noted the ease her fellow students have in obtaining these products.
Former Moorhead City Council member Larry Seljevold added his voice to the fray as well. He said he was on the council when the city passed a ban on certain flavored tobacco products.
“I know there’s a retail component to this and a concern,” Seljevold said. “But what you’re doing is you’re saving a generation from picking up a bad habit (with the ban). And it’s not about saving a business, because businesses are always evolving. It’s about health of a generation coming up.”
Additional supporting voices continued for the ban, from a school counselor to a school nurse and others.
No votes or action was scheduled on the ban.