Cigarette packs are displayed at a smoke shop in New York, Monday, March 18, 2013. A new anti-smoking proposal would make New York the first city in the nation to keep tobacco products out of sight in retail stores. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the goal is to reduce the youth smoking rate. The legislation would require stores to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in another concealed spot. They could only be visible when an adult is making a purchase or during restocking. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Selling tobacco products to people under age 21, or selling banned products – including e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco products – to any customer, just got a lot more costly in unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.
The county Board of Supervisors in August approved a roughly 10-fold increase in fines for retailers cited for breaking the law “as part of a strategy to protect public health and prevent young people from getting hooked on nicotine,” according to a press release.
The fines went into effect on Oct. 13 and will not be impacted by the outcome of Prop 31 – a statewide ban on the sale of certain flavored tobacco products – on the Nov. 8 ballot. So far, no citations have been issued to any of the 13 retailers who hold tobacco licenses in the unincorporated county. Some retailers sell only tobacco products, while others are convenience or grocery stores.
First time offenders will receive a $1,000 fine and have their tobacco license suspended for 30 days. Second time offenders will receive a $2,500 fine and 180-day license suspension, and third time offenders will receive a $5,000 fine and permanently lose their tobacco license. Retailers without a tobacco permit face even steeper penalties, up to $10,000 on their third offense.
County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who proposed the changes, said the previous fines were modest and often incorporated into a retailer’s cost of doing business.
“The fines should be significant enough that they actually might make somebody think twice,” Simitian said.
A survey of high school students in Santa Clara County conducted in 2019-2020 found that a quarter of respondents had reported using a tobacco product, and nearly 9 percent reported using one in the last 30 days.
Vapes were the most popular tobacco products among high school students in the county. Of all students who paid for the vapes they use themselves, 22.4% reported buying them from a retail store.
The tobacco industry is long thought to target flavored tobacco products and menthol cigarettes to young people and communities of color. In Santa Clara County, the student survey found more than 31 percent of Hispanic high school students said they have used tobacco products, the highest of any ethnic group.
Vanessa Marvin, a San Jose resident and co-chair of the Tobacco Free Coalition of Santa Clara County, said the increased fines tackle just one part of a broader issue.
“You’re dealing with an issue as complex as addiction and nicotine and teenagers,” Marvin said. “There’s no one solution.”
The ordinance expands the Department of Environmental Health inspectors’ authority to access all areas of a tobacco retail business to ensure illegal products are not stockpiled out of sight. If found, inspectors can seize or impound the products.
Other cities issue fines similar to those in unincorporated Santa Clara County. San Jose fines retailers $2,500 for each violation of selling tobacco products to minors, while the City of Alameda issues a $1,500 fine to first-time offenders.
The county is working to enact similar changes in Cupertino, Los Gatos and Palo Alto, where 54 permitted tobacco retailers are located.
Originally published at Elissa Welle