In June, Cottonwood became the first city in Arizona to ban the sale and use of tobacco, nicotine and vapor products to anyone under the age of 21. The group that spearheaded the effort said they would try and enact similar bans in other Verde Valley communities.
The Yavapai County Anti-Smoking Coalition of Youth stood before the Clarkdale Town Council on Tuesday in hopes they would craft a similar ordinance.
Councilman Bill Regner said he would support such a measure, but he said the language would likely have to be very clear.
"My concern is that people who are merely in possession of it, you know, do we want to be regulating that kind of lifestyle choice?" he said. "I’m much more comfortable with an ordinance that prohibits the sale of the products to that age group."
Regner said the town council will likely revisit the matter when they meet again in September. Cottonwood’s Town Council had asked the coalition to work with neighboring cities to up the age to avoid unfairly penalizing businesses.
