Linn County pushing the envelope on tobacco laws

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County is a testing ground for new laws that will push the envelope on tobacco restrictions, but not everyone is on board.

Armed with a $2 million grant, Linn County Public Health is pursuing policies that ultimately would keep youths from using tobacco and encourage businesses to go beyond smoke-free.

“There's this misconception that Iowa is now smoke-free and there's no tobacco problem anymore,” said Jill Roeder, manager of the department's Healthy Behaviors branch, “but there's a difference between smoke-free and tobacco-free.”

Iowa's Smokefree Air Act, implemented in 2008, prohibited smoking in public places but not tobacco use, she noted.

Linn County was one of 14 communities nationwide to receive a two-year Communities Putting Prevention to Work tobacco grant in March through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ringgold County in Iowa also received a grant.

The health department has hired a dozen people to work on initiatives that could include restricting free samples of tobacco products and the timing of advertisements in stores, so children aren't exposed to the ads. Outreach workers are also helping businesses develop tobacco-free policies.

Linn County could pursue tobacco ordinances, but each town also would need to pass the rules, said Linn County Supervisor Linda Lang-ston.

Some aren't keen to do so.

“If the federal government truly feels (tobacco products) are so dangerous, then outlaw the product,” said Roger Overbeck, a Robins City Council member and former smoker. “What's next? Where does big government stop?”

The council voted against considering new tobacco ordinances during a meeting last month.

“It didn't seem relevant to the city,” Mayor Ian Cullis said, noting Robins has only one convenience store that sells cigarettes and other tobacco products. “Who were we going to impact?”

Cullis said some residents in the town of 3,000, north of Cedar Rapids, weren't happy when the health department sponsored rules prohibiting outdoor burning.

“The feeling was, ‘First you tell us we can't burn our leaves, and now they're telling us we can't smoke in our backyards,' ” said Cullis, who is not a smoker. “How far can you control other people's behaviors?”

Further north, the town of Walker, with 750 people, is considering bans on tobacco ads within a quarter-mile of schools and parks, and banning all tobacco products in parks, which may prove controversial, Mayor Phil Auld said.

Roeder said the initiatives are not a rights infringement.

Tobacco companies are targeting youths with ad campaigns and packaging that make the products attractive to young people, she said, even though cigarettes and tobacco products may not be sold to anyone younger than 18.

Roeder cited new smokeless tobacco that dissolves in the mouth, such as Camel Orbs, which look similar to Tic Tacs. Snus, a spitless tobacco from brands like Marlboro and Camel, is packaged in candy-style tins.

While not marketed extensively in Iowa yet, the products are coming, Roeder said, adding that the department's survey of businesses shows a proliferation of tobacco ads in middle-class Cedar Rapids neighborhoods.

“They're targeting our middle-class kids,” she said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 20 percent of high school students smoke cigarettes.

Surveys show 9 percent of Iowa high school students use smokeless tobacco, but with the new products, Roeder said, more might be tempted to try.

The tobacco industry spends $36 million annually to promote its products, she said, while the nation has $260 million in direct medical costs related to smoking.

Langston said a countywide ban on smokeless products might be one way to go. City attorneys are hesitant to act on sampling restrictions, because federal laws already prohibit free samples of tobacco products in most places, she noted.

Kate Armstrong, an attorney with the Minnesota-based Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, noted that federal agencies expect communities to “act boldly” in addressing tobacco issues with the grants.

Langston said jurisdictions are taking a more careful approach.

“Businesses are entitled to do business, so it's a fine line to walk,” she said. “You feel a little bit like a guinea pig on this.”