Some Northwestern students said they see the practicality in outlawing the sale and purchase of tobacco products for anyone under age 21 in Evanston but still think it is unfair to those who have been smoking since they were 18.

City Council voted unanimously Monday to make it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy tobacco or liquid nicotine products. The approval of the amendment came after discussions among the aldermen about how much it would affect Evanston residents and the city’s economy.

Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) told The Daily on Monday she thought the beneficial health effects in raising the age were the largest reason in passing the amendment.

City manager Wally Bobkiewicz also told The Daily on Monday that he did not see the amendment affecting students too much, because he did not see smoking as a considerable issue at NU.

Weinberg sophomore Ryan Fleming said he is a regular smoker, but thinks there are few other students who smoke at the University.

“It’s well below the national average from what I can tell just walking down the streets,” Fleming said. “You rarely see a group, usually it’s just one person by (his or herself).”

Fleming said the city law is a good one in principle, but is unfair to the people who started smoking at 18 and are still not 21.

“It just makes it harder for people, which will deter them to smoke I guess,” Fleming said. “But people who are already addicted, they’re not going to stop. It’s just going to force them to go other places to buy them.”

If the ordinance had been passed before he had started smoking, he probably would have been less likely to start in the first place, he said.

Weinberg junior Isabella Valdescruz is 20 years old and has been buying her own cigarettes for the past two years while attending NU.

“I still hate the fact that they’re trying to control someone else’s life,” Valdescruz said. “They’re just like, ‘No, just kidding. You’re not old enough to make this decision for yourself.’”

She said there is a large underground group of people at NU who smoke, and they will still be able to get cigarettes if they want to.

Valdescruz said she did smoke less when CVS Pharmacy stopped selling cigarettes nationally earlier this year. However, although most people are aware that smoking is bad for their health, they will still do it, she said. Valdescruz smokes because it is a good study break and helps keep her awake when she’s doing work late at night, she said.

D&D Finer Foods owner Kosta Douvikas said he would prefer not to sell cigarettes at all and instead move in the direction of CVS. Cigarettes are more of a convenience for customers at D&D’s, he said.

“To me, it’s more of a hassle to even have them,” he said. “We’re not making money on (selling them), we’re just trying to get people in the door.”

Around 90 percent of his customers who come in to buy cigarettes do not buy other products in the store, such as groceries, he said. Instead, they strictly come to buy cigarettes.

Douvikas said he could see how the ordinance would affect local gas stations and other stores whose main sales come from cigarettes.

“They might be a little upset about it but too bad, you know,” he said. “It’s what we got to do. Just got to say yes to the city and say we’ll do what we have to do. That’s it.”

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