Tobacco can still be sold in local pharmacies after county legislators stood behind County Executive Dan McCoy’s decision to only ban the display of such products in those businesses.
Proponents of the proposed local law to ban the sale of tobacco at pharmacies on Tuesday, Oct. 14, urged the Albany County Legislature to override County Executive Dan McCoy’s veto of the bill, but lawmakers offered less support for the override than when they passed the ban. The bill would have banned the sale of tobacco at any store with a pharmacy, which included supermarkets. McCoy had claimed the ban would be unenforceable.
The legislature had passed the ban 21-17, but overriding the veto required a supermajority of the legislators, meaning three more votes were needed. Only 15 legislators supported the override.
Legislator Tim Nichols, D-Latham, announced his push to override the veto a week before the Tuesday meeting.
“If I thought amending the proposal to address the concerns expressed by the county executive was a better approach, I would amend and start the process over,” Nichols said in a prepared statement. “But the fact is, any proposal that includes the requirement of tobacco retailers to cover up tobacco advertising displays will almost certainly trigger a lawsuit against Albany County.”
Several advocates of the ban cited health concerns surrounding smoking and the dichotomy of selling cigarettes at a business focused on health.
“In this county, 15 percent of the incidents of cancer are lung cancer, but 30 percent of the deaths in the county are from lung cancer,” said Michael Burgess, a Delmar resident who is state advocacy director for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network. “We got involved because we saw this law is working in other communities.”
Nichols urged legislators to “make a statement” in support of public health, but some lawmakers questioned if the county was overstepping its authority through regulating what retailers sell.
Legislator Mary Lou Connolly, D-Guilderland, said she was in favor of getting rid of tobacco at all businesses, but not banning the sale at certain stores.
“How many kids go to Stewart’s or their convenience store for their ice cream cone or whatever, and when they go in, they are blasted with displays because these stores make a lot of their income from where the signs are posted,” said Connolly.
She added cigarettes are legal and the ban does not create a “fair playing field” for grocery stores, because customers would then have to purchase them at another business.
“Smoking cigarettes is not illegal. Are you going to stop selling beer in the grocery stores? That is not healthy either,” said Connolly. “If we do something, it should not be just the grocery stores for the signage. I think it should be across the board.”
Legislator Richard Mendick, R-Selkirk, said the legislation is about banning a certain group of retailers from selling tobacco and not cutting down the number of smokers.
“I don’t know of one smoker who, if they can’t buy it in one store, won’t walk to the next store and buy it,” said Mendick. “The claim that it’s going to stop people from smoking is just not there. There is no real research to prove that.”
Legislator Herbert W. Reilly Jr., D-Voorheesville, said he supports the ban because of the destructive quality of cigarettes being sold at businesses promoting health care.
“They didn’t call those things cancer sticks for nothing,” said Reilly.
Chairman Shawn Morse, D-Cohoes, said he would support banning the sale of cigarettes altogether or the display of tobacco products, but not the legislation proposed. Morse also used the ice cream analogy Connolly mentioned.
“I had to ask myself why would I allow one organization who has children in it all the time to sell cigarettes and then try to ban it from another organization, who I believe have been the best stewards and protecting people from smoking because they put all of their cigarettes under lock and key, with no display,” said Morse.
Morse also said cigarettes are not sold at the pharmacy but often at the other end of the store.
He questioned whether emotions were playing a role in those supporting the ban.
“When you legislate with emotion, you make the wrong choices,” said Morse. “I wrestled with this for weeks and weeks. … I don’t believe that what you’re doing changes smoking. I almost think that it makes it worse and pushes towards a whole different venue of people. Shifting the paradigms doesn’t always solve the problem.”
Nichols argued the legislation was brought forward from public health advocates focused on tobacco control, who felt the ban was the right step. He argued if an exemption for grocery stores could be carved out, he’d support it, but such a measure would sink the law in court.
“I have to trust the people that do this every day and look at the evidence,” said Nichols. “It may not have a great impact just in Albany County, but … if everybody does it, it will be a big impact.”
