Over to Elise to jump in with some commentary about alcohol.

Thank you.

Hi, everyone.

I just want to say a quick thank you to Marty for connecting us with the commission and allowing us the opportunity to speak with you today.

I think some of these trends are going to be maybe already familiar with you.

Some of them might be a little bit new.

I do have a lot of information in this PowerPoint.

I'm not going to touch on every single piece because I know we're going to be kind of quick today.

But just wanted to you to have all of the information.

So if there's more things in the notes and things that you can take a look at, and then obviously we're here to answer any questions that you have too.

So the first thing that we are seeing a lot, especially among youth, and again, this is one that you might already have seen, but alcohol alcohol pops.

So that is an AlcoPop is that flavored alcoholic beverage that really looks and smells kind of like a juice or a soda.

So what they are is obviously they're very eye-catching, they can look like energy drinks.

Um that blurs a little bit of the lines between their non-alcoholic drinks and of the same brand.

So we've seen across the board things, obviously, like the typical ones, truly, oh, I'm so sorry, truly, and and those kind of ones.

We've also seen Sunny D, different brands that are coming up and kind of creating their own alcoholic version of, and the products look very similar.

Um I apologize, I don't have a picture on here, but um it's easy to find.

Um they're also they're sweet flavored alcoholic drinks, like I mentioned.

They can have soda or candy-like flavors.

Um, why they're really risky and why we really primarily focus on our they're risky to our youth in Naperville, um, is the high sugar content.

So that really masks the taste of alcohol, so it's easy to be like a high consumption and and consuming more.

Um, obviously, those a lot of them have a higher alcohol content, so that's like a little bit, you know, that's a riskier situation for our youth as well.

Um, and the packaging, they're often often misleading.

So we can see that sometimes for our teens, they think they're more harmless than their non-alcoholic counterparts.

Again, if you look at the products side by side, they look very similar.

Um, so just wanted to call attention to that one.

Um, just a little bit more on alcohol pops, sorry again.

Um you know, with these, they have that higher content, so um, you have a higher risk of the rapid intoxication, so obviously the higher risk of alcohol poisoning.

So that's why it's you know very um problematic for our youth.

Um, obviously, of course, I'm sure you guys see a different piece of this, but the impaired um judgment, so driving, car accidents, unsafe, just risky behavior in general, um, and then obviously a lot of long-term effects, addiction, liver damage, mental health impacts, um, and then obviously for our younger drinkers, we're seeing them drink um kind of more.

So we lead to more like of the binge drinking because they're a little bit sweeter, easier to consume.

Um, and then some of their marketing tactics that they use, some I've already mentioned, but the sort of bright colors, fun fonts, um, again, like kind of tasting more like the regular, like a juice or a soda.

Um, another big thing that we're seeing is the kind of celebrity or social media promotion online.

Um so this one, and I'm gonna touch on this in a in a second, but um there's some you know, can kind of concerning social media hashtags that we've seen that are available that are that our youth are seeing as well.

Um often the placement is near, um, can be near soft drinks, which we know that's illegal, um, but enforcement is really key on that front, so making sure that we're they're in the designated areas, the alcohol areas, that's like the most important.

I think that's where you guys can um can step in there.

Um, the appeals to the youth, obviously there it's illegal for under 21, but that there's some a lot of appealing with the marketing and different things for our youth.

Um, and the two hashtags I wanted to mention that I learned about recently in a presentation is the sipping Saturday and Borg Challenge, it's B-O-R-G challenge.

So this is cons it's it's called black outrage gallon.

Um, and what they're doing is consuming a gallon of alcohol and they put electrolytes in it because our youth are very interested in keeping it healthy, so they think it's like a healthy alternative.

But those are just two that I wanted to bring up and bring to your attention.

And then the last piece on more generally speaking on alcohol placement in stores.

Um again, we're seeing some just blurred lines between alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages.

We have seen in the past, I believe there is a lot in place now that they can't be on end camps, end caps, excuse me, but that is something that we've seen in the past of just like a separate display for some of these items.

Um obviously we know that they do party pack themes, so they have like a summer theme for the summer, which can be more appealing to our youth as well.

Um, also at convenience stores and gas station, there's it's a grab and go style, so that's another marketing technique that you know we can focus on.

Um also the large single can options and often have cheaper prices, or sometimes a buy one, get one free, also appealing to our youth to kind of as like a grab or grab and go.

Um and the marketing tactics I already mentioned, but again, the flavoring fairy blast, tropical punch, watermelon wave, we know exactly who those are targeting.

Um, and then the pop culture tie-ins.

We're seeing a lot of um at sports events and influencers that are promoting these um alcohol pops as well online.

And then I mentioned the seasonal kind of additions, and then um the social media marketing, there's a lot of marketing on Snapchat specifically.

That's where um a lot of our youth are targeted for marketing and commercials and things like that.

Um so that's another area of concern.

Commissioner Cherico, do you have a question?

I do.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yeah, so you you may have answered it, but let me just make for clarification.

So this is all being produced legally through the system, going through distribution and then being sold in our stores.

Uh it's just that it's marketed towards kids.

Exactly, exactly.

And and uh branded and placed in place places where youth might be more likely to see them, but they still can't purchase it.

They're not, I guess what I'm saying is that this isn't like some sort of off-market production that's being sold not through our legal system, but directly to kids in some other way, or right?

It's being it's actually being sold through maybe jewel or exactly, yes.

But it's just okay.

So it's a new product that's uh category that's out there, and it's being targeted a little bit more to the youth.

Exactly.

So that's a great question.

It is yes, uh, they're all 21 and up, so the legal age is still and going through the proper channels, but we're just seeing a lot more.

I think we're seeing a lot more pop up of different brands that are kind of jumping on the bandwagon of doing alcohol pops, and then the other thing is the the targeting is kind of the biggest concern.

So making sure that they're not or we're trying to make sure that they're not targeting to youth, but they do a lot of those, you know, making them uh bright, colorful, the fun flavors.

So um, and there's also kind of some the little bit of the blurred lines between if you're looking at both side by side, they really do look similar.

So, but again, yes, all like legal through the system, um, you have to be 21 and up to purchase them, but I think the opportunity is making sure that they are staying in the designated alcoholic areas and not having them on end caps, not having those seasonal displays.

I think that would be the most.

But did you want to add anything to that?

Yes, so that's a great question.

I appreciate you asking it.

It's it's mainly about placements.

So at one point in time, uh, some of these manufacturers, although they were doing everything the way they were supposed to, Mountain Dew might be right next to a spiked Mountain Dew.

And so if you were not looking closely, you might pick up one of the packages not realizing it was alcoholic.

So we were getting a lot of uh anecdotal data and talking with our teens about going to graduation parties and having these alcoholic drinks served, not realizing that they were being alcoholic.

So it's more about just letting people know about the trends that are available.

There has been a state law that's passed so that uh in terms of the placement within the stores, they cannot be placed next to each other, which has made a huge difference.

And in fact, placement within the store, any alcoholic beverages being located in a liquor department is really helpful in this regard, just because it it does take away some of that allure for our teens and for our people who are younger.

But great question.

Thanks.

Commissioner Kelly.

I just when um Douglas.

I just wanted to add to that.

The problem is in our we like stores here, you can't tell what it is.

And so even somebody stocking the shelf might stock something that's spiked and something that's not, and there's so many new ones coming out all the time, you don't even know.

And some of the store clerks might be scanning them out because it just looks like it's a Mountain Dew, or Sunny D just accidentally did all their, I think it was Sunny Delight, did all of their orange juice was actually the spiked, but they put it in the wrong cans and look so similar.

So it's just something I think for us to be aware of when we're going and doing checks that they are separate and that um because it's really easy to get them confused.

Detective Kreitner, there's a term that's that's used in your training for this type of thing, I I believe where you've you've got something like say the the Mountain Dew that there's an alcoholic version of it, but it looks very similar in the packaging and everything else.

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Um the law that Matt was speaking of is uh depends on the size of the store.

So, and I forget the size, the square footage since I haven't done that presentation in a month or two, but it I think it's something like 5,000 square foot or 10,000 square foot, your smaller convenience stores.

They can be closer together, but they have to be clearly marked literally with an 8 by 10 or 8 by 11 sheet of paper indicating this contains alcohol and must be 21 and over, whereas this wouldn't, and then their larger stores, your your larger grocery stores and stuff to that matter.

Um, they cannot be anywhere uh adjacent to each other, they have to be complete uh separate different parts of the store.

They have to be complete uh separate different parts of the store.

Now we did check those.

Um it has been a little while.

We found compliance uh for the most part when we checked the state uh initially came out with an emergency rule and then change it to a permanent rule, and the state had us go out and check those.

Uh you know, most of the stores or almost all the stores, and they were uh fairly um compliant.

Mr.

Cherco.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um in Naperville, I guess in our general, when to Commissioner uh Davis's comment about you know, uh a person at the checkout wouldn't even really know it was an alcoholic product and possibly just scan it through.

That is preventive, right?

I mean, if you scan an alcoholic product, it automatically requires an ID check or something, doesn't it?

Or that's not up to a discretion of the checker, is it?

Or is it I believe most stores have a system in place where it says they probably all should.

I'm not positive that they all do, but most, the vast majority of your stores, your convenience stores, your larger grocery stores, you have to actually it triggers you for a date of birth and to check an ID.

So your concern is covered in that matter.

Okay.

Commissioner McGurry.

Yeah, Mr.

Mayor, I just don't ask a question, Detective Creighton.

Um have you seen any of this or heard any of this, like with the underage alcohol parties in town?

Any of this popping up.

I have not in particular.

Um, but I just think uh Matt's concern is like you say, uh, you go purchase it, you have a bunch of coors out at your party, and then someone doesn't know.

So it really is gonna fall on the adult at the party.

Okay, but it it could be a concern.

We haven't seen it to a degree, but that's why we invited U 360, because they just have more of a uh air to the wall, so to speak, on what's going on out there.

We get limited only to uh our enforcement efforts and then what people send me through reports.

But coming through to summer, we we I did not get reported uh any of these uh matters.

So that's why again I I invited these folks because they just have a great, great pulse on it.

And in full disclosures, you will uh agree, Mountain Dew kept me up on midnight shift, oftentimes working with him.

So I'm pro Mountain Dew and my personality.

Okay, go ahead.

Thank you.

And then I'm gonna turn over to Matt, he's gonna talk about uh the nicotine pouches.

Yeah, and we certainly don't want to isolate any specific products.

There are a number of them that are out there, those are the ones that just came to mind.

Um, and so we do want to emphasize that we've partnered with the community in a number of ways and a number of times, and always enjoy the work with Naperville and Naperville Police Department.

We'll share a little bit more about one of our endeavors a little bit later in the presentation.

But one of the challenges in the work that we do, especially with substance use prevention and mental health wellness for youth, is that it's always evolving, and substance use is always evolving, and it's almost always becoming more potent and more discrete, making it more difficult to understand or navigate, especially for our parents in our community or people who are selling the products.

One of the things I wanted to share a little bit about today are nicotine pouches.

So you've probably heard a lot of conversation about smokeless tobacco products.

Nicotine pouches are often lumped in, but they're a little bit different.

When we're talking about uh smokeless tobacco or snooze, nicotine pouches don't actually have tobacco leaves as part of them.

You can see a lot more education, a lot more information on the screen.

But one of the main differences, the the main ingredient is nicotine.

It is not a tobacco leaf that's part of the product.

And these are often very discrete, they come in little white or silver packages that can be tucked between the gums and and the lip or within the mouth, and then the nicotine just radiates into the body and hits the bloodstream from there.

And because it doesn't have tobacco base as part of it, it is often referred to as smoke-free or a healthier alternative.

But unfortunately, there really is no healthy alternative when nicotine is considered.

Um a lot of these products are very high level of nicotine, which I'll share more about in a second.

But when we're looking at traditional tobacco products, cigarettes, even vaping products, um, we normally see a cap on the actual nicotine levels.

If you're to go online and try to buy some of these nicotine pouch products, you'll see that they have varying levels of strength from some pretty low all the way up into almost two and three times the strength that we see with traditional tobacco products.

And what that does is it allows that nicotine to be flowing through the system and create a stronger chemical bond, uh, allowing somebody to become hooks and develop a substance use disorder and that attachment to the nicotine that much quicker.

And a lot of times, again, because there's no smoke, they feel like there's not harm associated with it.

But nicotine is absolutely associated with cardiovascular disease, heart disease, and a lot of the other negative byproducts that we see with traditional tobacco products.

We also see a dual use, which I'll talk more about in a moment.

But because of the fact that it's so easy and so hidden and so discrete, it's difficult for a lot of people to recognize and see what's happening there.

So again, when we're talking about some of the marketing, we see the bright packaging, we see some of the same playbook that we see with vaping, especially with flavors, things like mint, mango, berry, southern, citrus, uh, blueberry, lemon, a lot of different flavors that are going to appeal to a wide variety.

And that can be really concerning because those are things that really will pull teens in.

Again, we've seen that already with vaping.

They can be sold in gas stations, convenience stores.

Unfortunately, they're also very conveniently located online.

Uh, shortly before I came to this presentation, I went online and was looking at some of the different brands.

I went to an online retailer and it asked me if I was 21 or older, and it said you may be prompted to actually verify your age.

I said I was 21, I was never prompted to verify my age beyond that.

So there are a lot of different access points for our youth and for people who want to buy these products.

But when we're talking about impact, uh it says on teens here on the screen, but we're really gonna be talking about youth as a broader spectrum.

So teens, but also into young adults, so people really in 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25.

What we know is that people who start using these nicotine pouches are more likely to start engaging with other nicotine products.

This happened with traditional tobacco cigarettes as well when vaping became more prevalent.

We started to see more dual use.

For the first time in a long time is we saw the decline of traditional cigarette use over several decades.

When vaping became popular, we started to see traditional cigarettes start to climb a little bit again because people would be looking for that nicotine uh use, however, they could find it.

So we're knowing that using these nicotine pouches will normalize some of that use and make people more likely to engage with some of the other products.

And using these nicotine pouches can interfere with school, sports, academics, mood.

A lot of people will report that they use them for stress and anxiety, but unfortunately, these products actually can increase stress and anxiety because they are stimulants.

And because there are stimulants, again, anecdotally, what we hear from youth is that people want to take them before test or use them before test because they feel like it heightens their level of alertness, their focus when they're engaging with whatever's in front of them.

Same with sports, they feel like it elevates them to a level.

And so we wanted to share about this emerging trend because we don't have as much hard data here locally on it yet, but we are seeing this emerging trend on a larger level and hearing about it anecdotally, knowing that this is something that could be a concern going forward and how it's being utilized in our community.

And I'll toss it back to Elise for marijuana derivatives.

Thank you.

Um, marijuana derivatives, not to be confused with actual cannabis and marijuana.

Um, so marijuana derivatives, like for examples are Delta 8, Delta 9, 10, and THCA.

Um, so these are products that are derived from hemp and cannabis plants, but they have to be the smaller percentage.

So there's that's the kind of workaround of why these are able to be sold outside of a traditional dispensary, um, and why we're seeing like more concern, you know, for our youth getting their hands um on these products.

So, similarly to the traditional marijuana or cannabis, they can be eaten, vaped, dabbed, um, or applied as oils, um, some common forms again, edibles, dabs, and waxes.

Um, and then these are also because they're manufactured and kind of um manipulated in a lab, they're also can be much stronger and more potent than the typical marijuana flour.

So they are, so there is some, and obviously the potency and risks.

So, again, my much higher potency, um, easy to like overconsume, especially with the edibles, dabs, and waxes.

Um, also the edibles specifically, or we've seen the you know, delta nine, delta eight in in drinks, even um, they have the delayed effect, so they can lead to like an overconsumption as well, which is you know another risk that we're um concerned about.

Um, again, so these stronger highs can cause um higher risk of anxiety, psychosis, and accidents and leading to addiction and then that tolerance buildup.

So if they're consuming them regularly, that they're gonna need more to consume again, like a typical um you know, marijuana or cannabis, but again, this is the the derivatives that we're talking about specifically.

Um Commissioner Douglas, you have a question.

Just explain what a dab is and a wax.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Well, you can probably say it's explain a little better than me.

But so a dab is actually just a piece of oh, I'm so sorry.

Adab is it's a piece of actual like wax, and it's um it's it is smoked, so it's like lit and it's smoked um through uh apparatus, but it is like a small piece, and it's a very high potency.

They're much more potent than uh, you know, like a typical um like an edible, or if you're smoke just smoking a regular, you know, joint.

Um it's it's a much much higher potency, and it hits instantly.

Um, and the effects are pretty incredible, and that's actually where we've seen more.

And this is not necessarily in our community, but higher levels of hospitalizations from psychosis, different things.

It is with the dabs and the waxes.

I don't know if you wanted to add.

Yeah, at least we covered it pretty well.

It's largely it's a it's a concentrate, it's usually refining the process to make it a higher potency and a higher strength.

Commissioner D.

Oh, I just wanted to point out you said that nicotine was a stimulant, but it actually does both, right?

So the initial dose is stimulant, but afterwards or a higher doses, it is a sedative.

That's why a lot of combat veterans you see in World War II, they would smoke it to calm their nerves, right?

And people use it to relax as well, too.

So just so you know that it has both stimulant and sedative effects.

And that's why when you are withdrawing from nicotine, you get all agitated.

And if you have a puff and you take some cigarettes, it calms you down.

Yeah, I thank you for clarifying that too.

I thought I had that in here, but I did.

But thank you.

I appreciate that clarification.

Um, just uh these products, there's many products that have um little oversight on production and quantity.

Like I said, these are kind of the loophole or alternative, so they're not necessarily always sold in a dispensary that you know is has all the checks and balances that we know of.

But um, so these are like a little bit more of an emerging and dangerous project that we want to really keep our eyes on.

And again, similar um health effects for teens.

So um effects affecting THG obviously affects memory, learning, attention, um, can increase risks of depression and anxiety, and then like I already mentioned the heavy use, especially with those dabs and waxes, um, can be um linked to psychosis and schizophrenia in some youth, and then they also youth have the higher um addiction risk for teens, especially if they're starting them young.

So, like the younger you're starting, the higher risk for um addiction and leading to other substances later in life too.

So, we're also part of our program is trying to not only keep youth off drugs but also delay the onset of any of usage of any of these products too.

Um, then I already mentioned the the types, and I do have some more uh notes in the note section of just like some more examples of the edibles, vapes, and wax as well.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

There's more examples.

I'm not gonna get into each of them, but I know um you had asked about the wax.

So the wax um just again, the higher concentrated THG, hemp resin, um, they're heated on a dab ring or pen and inhaled.

Um, and it's a much stronger and faster delivery, like I mentioned.

But that is there's so there's more about each of them too.

And I'll turn it over to Matt for, and these were some of the ones.

Oops, these are some of the things we were asked to do.

Commissioner Stoffer, you had a question.

Yeah, I did have a question for council, actually.

I and and I think everybody probably knows this, but a lot of these unregulated marijuana products came through as a result of a federal piece of legislation called the farm bill that made him products legal, and so these clever scientists figured out how to squeeze intoxicants out of something that they didn't use to get.

Um but so in the meantime, some states and municipalities have started clamping down locally.

I do understand that the feds are potentially gonna address the farm bill loophole and try to tighten that back up.

But in the meantime, my question for council is is Naperville doing anything at the local level or considering anything at the local level to like the smoke shop selling Delta 8 products.

Counselor um yes, we are Naperville was one of the first communities to regulate the uh hump-based uh derivatives.

Uh, we have put a restriction there that can only be sold uh to persons 21 years of age or older.

Uh some communities don't even have that, and that's not necessarily a state mandate.

Uh every year there is a legislation um uh proposed statewide to both uh regulate the hemp uh derivatives and also to ban them.

Um it has mixed support and has not passed.

We have uh uh suggested and are discussing with our our uh cogs, our our councils of governance, including the DePage mayors and managers, having that be a legislative initiative that is championed by municipalities to ask for action at the state level.

Um a lot of um opinions on this suggest that state action is probably best so people don't just cross borders or just go online, but to really regulate it, especially because of the difficulty with testing.

A lot of our testing um protocols are not adapted for these types of products, so the the uh uh evidence necessary to prove uh enforcement efforts is difficult, but uh we are looking at legislative initiatives, and we have advised a Naperville City Council on it, and they're taking under advisement as well.

Uh that's great context to add in terms of the farm bill and the additional action that is being looked at at the state level.

Uh, we applauded the city of Naperville when they passed that through.

We actually provided a one-pager, uh probably more like three pagers, three pages to be honest with you.

But you'll notice that with Kratom as well, um, in terms of providing a little additional context for the dangers of marijuana derivatives.

Um, so the last thing that we have in terms of emerging trends before we talk about some partnership pieces is under regulated and unregulated products, and it's my understanding that some of these things might have come up in a previous meeting.

Um, so we'll dive into them a little bit, but knowing that there might be some questions.

And they are underregulated and unregulated.

These products are less well known to the public, but also less well known in terms of research circles, and that we have some studies, we have some information research that backs up and has clear findings, and others were still really trying to get more information.

But there have been a lot of incidents of concern that are allied with all three of these products.

So all three of them are often marketed as herbal or as dietary or supplemental pieces.

Um, that is a big way that they are being marketed and sold, but they each do different things.

Uh, and many of these can be found in a wide range of shops, whether it's a vape shop or a convenience store.

Um we we see these products popping up in a lot of places.

So on this sheet or on this uh slide, I should say, the one that's probably well most well known to the group and publicly is Kratum, as I know um the city of Naperville has looked at that previously.

We also provided a one-pager when there was um some people who are interested in bringing a Kratom shop here into the city.

And this product comes from the leaves of a tree in Southeast Asia, again, sold as teas, tonics, powders, extracts, a lot of times mixed in with other products, and it is often marked as a supplement marketed as a supplement.

We see a lot of health products, a lot of a lot of the safe word or natural or energy booster, a lot of these buzzwords that people are looking for in their everyday lives.

Um, and one of the interesting things about Kratom is depending on how it's used, it can actually mimic different different uh symptoms.

So we see sometimes with low doses, we see some stimulant responses, but we know excuse me, we know that it plays on opioid receptors, and so it can often especially have a sedative like quality uh in high doses.

So kratom is something that's been around for a number of years.

It is does have um a lot of proponents behind it and a lot of detractors, several states have actually banned it.

Um I believe here in Naperville, you have to be 21 years or older to purchase.

Uh, but it is something that is regularly sold in many places throughout the community.

We also have Kava, which is a route from the South Pacific.

This is a newer product, it's sold in teas, tonics, capsules, or kava bars, and it is really known as kind of a stress reliever, a sedative.

A lot of people are reporting feeling stressed and anxious in the world in the community, and so this is really marketing to kind of that idea that will help calm some of the stress, bring down some of those pieces.

However, a lot of the research and a lot of um the scientific studies behind it are seeing that it does have a negative impact, especially on liver toxicity, and that it doesn't have some impaired coordination in terms of people taking it and then getting behind the wheel of a car, operating heavy machinery, doing some of those everyday pieces.

But there aren't really restrictions around this product, even around ages.

So this is something that can be purchased from a wide range of people here in our community.

The last one on here is tianopatine, and it's sold largely in vape shops and online.

This also acts on opioid receptors.

It has a very high risk of abuse, addiction, and withdrawal, and we see a lot of the same consequences that come with Tianopatine that are associated with opioids.

Right now, this is not regulated in a in a very active way, but the state of Illinois has placed a law that I believe will take effect on January 1st, 2026, that will make this age restricted.

But a lot of these products can be found uh on our shelves, stores, a lot of times by the cash register, and like I said, they're unregulated, meaning that there's not a lot of oversight from above, but it means that there's not a lot of oversight in terms of people who are producing them, quality control on those pieces as well.

We just don't have the same level of understanding of the operations uh of what's happening behind the scenes when people are creating and marketing these products and bringing them into our stores.

Um, some of these things, like I think um, there was a TikTok that was forwarded to us about a really well-known Kratom products that is going out there, which comes in a bottle, it's a liquid format, and they say not to use more than one in 24 hours, but unfortunately, we're seeing again social media is not the end all be all, but it is very often indicative of trends that we're seeing in our community, and people feeling like they have to use them every day, or using three or four or five or six, because there are some addictive qualities that are drawing people in to use them.

Commissioner Cherokle.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um that was good information, all of it.

Um, a couple of things, and I'm not sure is do you have is there more in the presentation?

Just one more slide, but it's not about this, though.

We're moving on to the piece.

So a couple of things that had come up a few years ago that I was a little surprised didn't get more traction.

Maybe uh I don't know what what happened was the Pelkahol, the powdered alcohol, looker like little sugar packs, remember that?

Uh take it and order diet coke at the stadium, board in our own coke kind of thing.

You know, and uh so easy to conceal and such a great idea.

Surprised that it didn't that it didn't uh stick.

But have you heard anything on that at all?

Or so powdered alcohol we have not seen as much, but we have seen other markets like powder THC, CBD become more prevalent and more popular.

But I agree.

I uh powdered alcohol was something that was seemed like it was going to become a big trend, and then kind of receded.

Went away.

Yeah, okay.

Well, that's a good thing.

Uh the second thing is vapes.

I mean, three or four years ago was such a crazy time, and um I know that the federal government came down hard and uh all that, but uh, has there been anything recently uh at the youth level that is that we're seeing something new?

I mean, I know that they've got THC in there and things like that.

But is there anything that's noteworthy on that end of it?

Yeah, no, we've again this is anecdotally, we don't have um we do have numbers for vaping in terms of we're asking for our Illinois youth survey data.

So we do ask about that, and vaping has been seen to on the rise, so we've seen more use of it.

Um we've also heard anecdotally from um you know people from the schools um districts that are seeing that are just seeing more of them and kind of confiscating more of them at schools, um, but they we're not getting if it's uh nicotine or um cannabis.

It's kind of like they're not sure which, but that we are seeing a rise, at least anecdotally from the school districts that they're seeing a lot more vapes.

Um, they're also very easy to hide.

Um, so that's another concern.

Um, and we've heard uh conjugating in the bathroom, I guess is a big is a big spot that they're um the youth are using, and then you know, so they actually have had administrators that are standing outside um to make sure that that's not happening.

Um, but we have seen again anecdotally a definite increase in vaping.

But I don't know if you're I mean, I would I would think that the uh you know the hemp base for the Delta 8 vapes um would make it pretty quickly into schools because, like literally outside of Naperville, you can go to gas stations and get it.

You know, yeah, vaping as a delivery method continues to grow, unfortunately, for different products where it really started with nicotine.

We've seen it move into a lot of these other areas.

I will say from several years ago, the numbers have declined for vaping, which is wonderful.

It is still a substance of concern.

Um, and we can let the the school district speak for themselves on that particular piece, but it is something that we continue to focus on and make sure that we're educating both parents and youth about just because it is something that is an access point.

Um, you mentioned some of the the legislation that passed, and one of the things is they were banning flavors, but for certain devices, certain types of devices, especially pod devices.

Unfortunately, disposable devices still were able to use flavor packets.

So we saw an undetended an unintended consequence where the market share shifted to a different type of vaping device.

Um, but as a as a delivery method for way for people to ingest all kinds of different things, vaping um continues to be an issue.

Mayor, one last question.

Go ahead.

Um psychedelics, anything with uh mushrooms or or the edibles that are now the microdosing with mushrooms?

So it's a great question.

Silocybin, uh, a few years ago there were some products on the market, especially a chocolate that was uh laced with psilocybin, and I know that that has become a bigger topic of conversation in other places across the United States.

We are not seeing a lot of that here locally though.

Okay.

Thank you.

And then just a quick wrap up.

Um, I just wanted to talk about because we were talking about the alcohol pops and alcohol and pieces like that.

So a really great partnership that we have with Marty and the Naperville Police Department is placing these clings in alcohol retailers across the city.

Um so this is a social host prevention campaign aimed to educate the adult consumers about the dangers and legal concerns of providing alcohol to those under 21.

Um, so this is uh you know, a great message of preventing underage drinking is everybody's responsibility, and you can see very clearly in the middle.

Um, if you can't buy it, don't supply it.

So that is something that we are trying to get.

We actually newly, as of October, are able to get um, we were able to get Marty a number of these clings to get in all of our um all of our retailers across Naperville, um, with obviously their option to use or not use.

But um hopefully the goal is to get them in every um alcohol retailer, and then also um we recently uh Matt and I and one of our coworkers did kind of an environmental scan just to see kind of where they're at, where they're placed, if they're up.

Um we did it on 16 randomized um stores.

Um, and we actually had I just wanted to call out, sorry, a couple shout outs to um a couple of the alcohol retailers.

You can see them here, extra value two extra value liquors, Capudos, and JP liquors that not only had them up, had multiple up, and then asked for more clings to be placed.

So um that's a really great partnership that we're doing.

Um, and hopefully can continue to educate the community to not supply um to those under 21.

And one thing I just want to say on that this is a part of the community norms piece, and Naperville has such strong community norms about valuing families and our youth, and this is a really wonderful partnership where we can continue to share that message in a way that people can help make those decisions healthy and safe for everybody.

And we're thankful for the partnership with the Naperville Police Department, along with the great work that you all do with commissioners here in the city in general.

We're really thankful for our ongoing partnership in serving our community.

Thank you, Commissioner Douglas.

I just wanted to thank you both.

I think this was really well done.

I think we all learned something from it.

Hopefully, anyone else listening from home is learning things as well so that they can help protect their kids.

And um, I want to thank the commission for taking it seriously that we need to be aware of emerging trends, and um, I thought this was very beneficial, and thank you for the work you're doing for our community.

Commissioner Berguri.

Yes, Mr.

Mayor, just uh and maybe we put a placeholder um this would be nice to have you back, maybe I don't know, in six months, um, unless something really goes crazy and we need to have you back.

Um, but just to have these updates um for me was very helpful.

Um, and so you know, again, you know, maybe in six months or you know, or once a year, however, you want to do that.

Um, but I think this is very beneficial, and hopefully, people that are um watching or listening, or if you see this on NCTV, um, you know, it's it's it's helpful for people that are disengaged.

Um, and I yeah, I know that's your world, you know, trying to get people engaged.

Um, so thank you for doing what you did.

And Marty, thank you for setting this up.

Uh detective, thank you for setting this up.

Okay, and with regard to your campaign on the community alliance for prevention, anything we can do to uh motivate our stores to put the clings up or do bottle hangers or whatever that you think is an appropriate method of communication.

I mean, we can even tie it in with our local ordinances that specifically uh uh prohibit parents from providing alcohol to their children.

So and we also have our annual liquor seminar, so we can invite you perhaps to present there as well.

Yeah, thank you.

We would be happy to come back at any time that you would like for us to be here.

Uh, you also do not have to wait to reach out to us.

If you have questions in between, we're happy to assemble information or be talk one on one if you ever have questions or conversation.

I'm quite sure we overshot our 10 minute time limit today.

Uh so if there are additional things, please feel free to reach out at any time.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Reports DUIs 2025 August.

Detective Crichton.

Thank you, Mayor.

We had uh in August of 2024, we had 11 reported DUIs, and in August of 2025, we have nine reported DUIs.

I don't see any uh establishments being identified out here, which is a good thing.

Uh hopefully they were all out of town and came into town.

Okay.

Receive local liquor law essentials class statistics for August 2025.

Yes.

Uh August 2025, we had 39 uh people complete the uh Naperville local liquor law essentials.

Uh that's probably about on par with uh the old days of Basset as the summer winds down, things kind of slow down a little bit, whereas the beginning of the summer, all the seasonal hires um kind of increases.

I think we'll probably see a bit of an increase come maybe November just because of uh over the holiday hiring stuff like that.

Okay, and then receive liquor concept committee report for August 2025.

Um in August, we only had the one meeting with uh Garfields regarding the merger and acquisition involving the um LLC.

Just the one excuse me, Mayor.

Go ahead, if I could just touch um the last meeting I wasn't in attendance and there was some discussion from Commissioner Douglas on the feel-free drink, and the request was for me to go out and uh check stores.

Um I did so, and reportingly the stores are all aware of the over 21 for the uh feel-free drink and similar products.

And in fact, I found a lot of them fortunately to be in cases, uh, the little bottles and plastic cases, and those are also labeled must be 21 and over.

Again, reportedly that they're in compliance with them.

I think if we wanted to, we've discussed this several times.

We've never really solidified uh both maybe this product being Kratom and then the also the uh the THC products if we wanted to discuss or go forth with an actual check on those specific products because our three annual checks through the Illinois Department of Human Services grants, those are specifically vapes, uh Zins, tobacco, stuff like that, nicotine.

We don't touch on those.

Um so if we wanted to discuss as we're continuing to watch these trends, we would probably have to set up a separate uh separate compliance check for those products.

Thank you.

Okay.

Have we considered reaching out to that grant or to see if they're interested in opening the grants to the other products?

We have not reached out, we certainly could.

Um they just have always uh identified uh the vapes, mostly tobaccos and stuff with alternative nicotine, just not the THC.

I think there's kind of like a like they spoke about between the low levels of Delta 8 is right underneath, so it doesn't have to be at the dispensaries, so I think that's why they they've kind of strayed away from it.

But we certainly we certainly could ask.

Yeah, if if you get me the information and I'll do an inquiry from my office and see if we can't get it addressed.

Sounds great.

Thank you.

Commissioner Douglas?

Uh follow detective.

Is that the same as when you send the undercover youths in to try to buy alcohol or is that separate?

And if it's separate, I would like to suggest that we add in that to their testing.

Yeah, so these are separate uh from those those grants that we do uh three times a year, typically uh November and then usually around March and then May, and then we kind of have a lull for whatever reason in the summer, it's just how the grant is structured.

That would be my opportunity, I would say, if we were going to go forth with our own local check on the uh THC products and or the Kratom products.

Again, I was happy to see what I saw when I went out to those stores, uh, but that's just on the front.

I don't really have a uh gauged of how well they're actually following it.

Just to follow up to that.

Mine was not only about the youth on that.

I think they're highly addictive to a lot of the adults in our community as well.

I don't know if we've checked in with hospitals or whatever, but I know people are up to like seven a day.

You're supposed to have one in 24 hours, and it's becoming this underground of addiction.

That's what I wanted to bring awareness to.

And that's it's Kratom in that drink, right?

Yeah, there was just an article about it that went national this week.

So okay.

Seeing no other business, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

Commissioner McGurry.

So move.

Sir second.

Commissioner D.

Second.

We have motion a second.

All those in favor saying.

Aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

We are adjourned.

Thank you.