Evanston aldermen Tuesday voted unanimously to ban the sale of cigarettes not in their original packaging.
Alderman Delores Holmes, 5th Ward, called for the new ordinance. She has charged that some stores in town, especially ones near Evanston Township High School, sell individual cigarettes, known as “loosies” to teenagers who can’t afford the price of a full pack.
Such sales are already prohibited by state and federal regulations, but Carla Bush of the city’s health department told aldermen in a memo that the complex wording of the existing regulations make enforcement difficult.
Under the ordinance businesses licensed to sell cigarettes could lose their license or be fined $500 for selling “loosies.”