Emeryville, Calif. – On Tuesday evening, the Emeryville City Council held a second reading and officially approved several measures to protect public health from tobacco use.
The Council passed a comprehensive tobacco retail licensing requirement that will help hold retailers accountable for following state and local tobacco laws with strong enforcement, including annual monitoring, fines, license suspension and revocation for non-compliant retailers.
“We applaud the City Council for putting public health before the tobacco industry’s interests. The retail licensing program will provide sustainable support for the vital monitoring and enforcement needed to stop Big Tobacco from marketing to kids and illegally selling highly addictive and harmful tobacco products,” said Kristen Lockhart, senior tobacco control manager for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s Rooted in Community Empowerment (RICE) project.
“The tobacco industry targets kids and communities of color with aggressive marketing. I have seen firsthand the intended results of its predatory tactics, deceiving children -- even parents -- into believing certain products are safe, which is not true. Just this year, I confiscated two e-cigarettes from my 13-year-old. As a concerned mother, I thank the City Council for helping protect Emeryville kids from the dangers of tobacco use,” said Latrice Eckford-Martin, RICE volunteer.
The policy will also prohibit the transfer of tobacco retail licenses to new proprietors when the store is within 1,000 feet of youth-sensitive areas – such as schools – or 500 feet of another tobacco retailer.
“Proximity to and higher density of tobacco retailers are associated with higher tobacco use and higher youth initiation, and we know tobacco retailers are more common in limited-income communities and communities of color. Limiting the number of retailers and keeping them away from kids are crucial steps to address the disproportionate burden in tobacco-related diseases these communities face,” said Lockhart.
Additionally, council members voted to set a minimum price and pack size for cigar products, end the sale of tobacco in pharmacies, strengthen the Smoking Pollution Control Ordinance by prohibiting smoking lounges, and end the sale of menthol, other candy and fruit-flavored tobacco products, which are a key part of the tobacco industry’s strategy to bait youth and communities of color into a potential lifetime of addiction.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the City Council to advance policies that will help everyone in Emeryville have a just and fair opportunity to prevent, detect, treat and survive cancer,” said Lockhart.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S. and smoking is linked to at least 12 types of cancers, including lung, liver and colorectal cancers.
Free resources and services on quitting tobacco products are available at KickItCA.org in English and Spanish. For help in Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Vietnamese, visit asiansmokersquitline.org.