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Sacramento County`s youth are the focus of its newest law: the sale ban of flavored tobacco.
Effective Monday, July 25, it`s illegal to sell flavored tobacco to anyone in the unincorporated areas of the county - regardless of age. The ban includes flavored cigarettes, e-cigarettes and cigars along with any flavored edible tobacco and nicotine product.
"Mentholated and flavored products have been shown to be starter products for youths who begin using tobacco and establish tobacco habits that can lead to long-term addiction," said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, Sacramento County`s public health officer, in an email statement to The Bee. "The ordinance will reduce the potential for youths to begin or continue using tobacco products."
The sale ban includes all cigarette products with smells and flavors besides tobacco, according to a Sacramento County January news release introducing the law. Hookah lounges are not exempt.
Sacramento`s flavor ban targets its youth
Three in four California adults agree that flavored tobacco is "intentionally designed" to appeal to young people, according to the California Department of Public Health`s "California Tobacco facts and Figures 2021." And the data backs the claim.
There was a spike in the number of California high schoolers using flavored vapes and smokeless tobacco between 2018 and 2020, according to CDPH.
The newest tobacco ban amends the 2004 tobacco retailer businesses license (Sacramento county code 4.07), which made it illegal for anyone to sell tobacco without a valid license. Eighteen years later, the laws surrounding tobacco have become more strict to reduce addiction risk among young people.
Sacramento County joins the city of Sacramento, San Jose, South San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, unincorporated Los Angeles County and more that have enacted a flavored tobacco sales ban. California voters will decide on a state ban of flavored tobacco products in the November 2022 midterm elections.
What happens if a store is in violation?
Sacramento County`s flavored tobacco sale ban effects 450 businesses, said Kim Nava, Sacramento`s director of public information, in an email to The Bee.
According to Sacramento County code 4.07.110, if a retailer is caught selling tobacco to people under 21 or flavored tobacco to anyone, their tobacco license will be suspended for 30 days.
If a retailer is caught violating the law for a second time within three years of the first violation, their license will be revoked for 90 days. If caught for a third time within the three-year span of the first violation, their license will be suspend for a year.
If a business is issued a fourth violation within a three-year period of the first violation, their tobacco retailer license will be permanently revoked.
What counts as flavored tobacco?
The county defines flavored tobacco as any taste or aroma other than tobacco including menthol, mint, wintergreen, fruit, chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic drink, herb or spice.
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