PRINCETON: Health board proposes licensing retailers that sell e-cigarettes

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Local retailers that sell e-cigarettes and other similar products will have to buy a $1,200 annual license from the Princeton health department, according to a proposed ordinance that would make Princeton the 14th town in New Jersey and first in Mercer County with such a requirement,
The Princeton Board of Health on Tuesday introduced a measure regulating the sale of electronic smoking devices, with a vote scheduled for Sept.20. If approved, the requirement would take effect in January.
“All tobacco products, up until now, have been regulated and there’s been a fee schedule for them. There has not been one for e-cigarettes,” said board of health chairman Dr. George DiFerdinando after the meeting.
In Princeton, there are about 13 stores that sell tobacco products, of which seven also sell electronic smoking devices. The Health Department intends to educate those merchants on what requirements they have to meet to comply with the ordinance.
“We expect to hear from the people that would be subject to this fee, and so we’ll listen to their comments, of course,” Dr. DiFerdinando said.
Princeton has a long history of trying to combat smoking, including last year’s ban on under-21 sale of tobacco products. The community is seen as being in the vanguard on the issue, going all the way back to when it fought to ban indoor smoking.
Councilwoman and former state health commissioner Heather H. Howard, the liaison to the board of health, said after the meeting that the town is continuing to “push the envelope” on “anti-tobacco measures” to make Princeton healthier.
Earlier, an expert on the issue told the board of health why others towns in New Jersey have adopted similar measures, where license fees range from $200 to $1,200.
“The communities are doing this because it really allows for that town to track the locations that sell electronic smoking devices,” Karen Blumenfeld, executive director of Global Advisors on Smokefree Police, told officials during the meeting.
“Not just Princeton but other municipalities around New Jersey are moving to license e-cigarettes sales to monitor the various regulations that cover them,” Dr. DiFerdinando said.