DANA POINT : Cigarette Vending Machines Outlawed

In an effort to keep tobacco products out of the reach of minors, the City Council voted this week to ban cigarette vending machines from the city.

The council decision Tuesday night came after a recommendation by the city’s alcohol and drug assessment committee. The vote was 4 to 1, with Councilman Mike Eggers the lone dissenter.

Eggers spoke in support of Dana Point vending machine distributor Ben Koss.

“This is like Big Brother to me,” said Eggers, who smokes. “Everyone wants government to keep out of the way, and here we go and stomp on a local businessman. The majority of the problems with minors’ getting cigarettes is not vending machines but just going into stores and buying them across the counter.”

But the rest of the council disagreed, citing the need to make cigarette buying by minors as difficult as possible.

The city committee stated in its report that the existence of cigarette machines “sends a message to youth that cigarettes are no more dangerous than candy.”