Item 20 - First Reading of Ordinance Prohibiting the Sale or Distribution of Nitrous Oxide

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i00:u211111111111i ORDINANCE NO. NS-XXXX AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA ADDING ARTICLE XIV TO CHAPTER 10 OF THE SANTA ANA MUNICIPAL CODE (CRIMES AND MISCELLANEOUS LAW ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS) PROHIBITING THE SALE OR DISTRIBUTION OF NITROUS OXIDE WHEREAS, the City of Santa Ana (City) is empowered pursuant to California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7 to make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws; and WHEREAS, the City is specifically empowered by the California Health and Safety Code, Section 101450, as may be hereafter amended or renumbered, to take measures as may be necessary to preserve and protect the public health, including the adoption of ordinances, regulations, and orders not in conflict with the general laws; and WHEREAS, Nitrous Oxide is an odorless, colorless chemical that can be inhaled for legitimate purposes associated with medical or dental procedures in a clinical setting, and is legitimately used for industrial purposes and as a propellant for food products; and WHEREAS, Nitrous Oxide is also subject to recreational misuse and abuse, in part, because it is easy to purchase from retail vendors and relatively inexpensive; and WHEREAS, the recreational misuse and abuse of Nitrous Oxide can cause permanent vitamin deficiencies in the blood, and can cause long-term neurological effects, including paralysis and death; and WHEREAS, the incidence of Nitrous Oxide recreational misuse and abuse has been on the rise within the county, nationally, and internationally over the past decade, with multiple medical studies noting significant increases in recreational misuse in the past five years, as well as a broader medical understanding of the long-term hematological and neurological impacts of Nitrous Oxide misuse and abuse; and WHEREAS, the City does not currently regulate the sale of Nitrous Oxide and finds and declares that in the absence of local regulation, Nitrous Oxide remains subject to significant risk of misuse and abuse through sale to individuals who intend to misuse or abuse the product; and WHEREAS, the City desires to regulate the sale of Nitrous Oxide in order to preserve and protect public health and to dissuade sellers of Nitrous Oxide products from selling to individuals which they know or have reason to know intend to use the products for illegal purposes (i.e., recreational ingestion and/or inhalation). Ordinance No. NS-XXX Page 1 of 5