The City of Tempe is moving forward with a proposed tobacco ordinance that would raise the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21.
The Tempe City Council’s Human Services and Community Safety Committee brought forward the proposed tobacco license and minimum age of purchase ordinance to the full Council for consideration at a City Council Work Study Session on June 8.
The proposed ordinance would increase the age to purchase tobacco products in Tempe from 18 to 21 and implement a licensing fee and fine structure program for tobacco retailers.
Currently, Arizona is one of 10 states that does not have a statewide tobacco licensing registry. This means that retailers who sell tobacco products can continue to sell the products even after repeated violations for selling to minors.
Arizona is one of eight states where you can buy tobacco if you’re 18 in certain cities, even though federal law raised the minimum age to 21 back in 2019.
If passed, Tempe would join other Arizona cities, such as Tucson and Flagstaff, which have passed retail tobacco licensing ordinances and raised the minimum age to 21 in alignment with federal legislation signed into law in 2019.
Two rounds of public input about the proposal were held over the last year. On April 4, the Human Services and Community Safety Council Committee, which is made up of Councilmembers Doreen Garlid and Joel Navarro, received consensus to move forward with the current proposal.
With the Council agreement, the proposal will move forward with two public hearings that will be held prior to a vote. Any new fees will also be posted on the City of Tempe website for a minimum of 60 days before a vote is taken.
Last summer and fall, the committee engaged in a public feedback process for a proposed ordinance that, in addition to the items above, would restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes. The current tobacco seller license action could be the first step in a more comprehensive proposed ordinance in the future that could include product restrictions.
Progress and updates related to the proposed ordinance will be posted at tempe.gov/TobaccoOrdinance.
