A small San Francisco Bay-area community of about 9,000 residents has stepped up big — according to its town council — by passing “the strictest and most comprehensive tobacco and nicotine sales ban in the country.”
So describes a report by SFGate and other news outlets about Tiburon, a scenic, high-end enclave on the Tiburon Peninsula, north of San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge.
The unanimously passed ordinance establishes a complete ban on anything that has nicotine, “including cigarettes, cigars, vapes and other e-smoking devices — as well as deliveries of any tobacco goods,” and reportedly makes it the first town in the nation to ban the sale of such products with no exemptions.
“We all made history here tonight,” Mayor Holli Thier said after the law was passed Wednesday.
The California cities of Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach implemented similar bans in 2021, but they allow limited exemptions, including having cigar lounges and some motel rooms designated for smoking.
“Before the bans, no Tiburon retailers sold tobacco products. The ordinance will now legalize this voluntary precedent,” according to the report.
“Tiburon is in a unique position to consider more stringent regulations as we … currently have no retail tobacco sales,” Town Manager Greg Chanis said at a town meeting last month when the move was under consideration.
The ordinance requires anti-smoking clauses in all leases for multiunit properties. It also allows citizens to bring civil action against repeat violators.
Fines for sales violations are misdemeanors ranging from $250 to $1,000 per incident. Smoking in most public places and work areas is already banned by California state laws.
Some high school students from Marin County’s Youth Action Committee, a group working to reduce smoking and vaping in the county, also spoke in favor of the ordinance.
“I’m here again tonight to express my strong support for a ban on the sale of tobacco and nicotine products in our town,” student Diana Garcia told the town council meeting. “I really appreciate how open and responsive you guys have been to our concerns, and I’m grateful that you’re taking action on an issue that continues to affect my peers.”
While its population is limited, Tiburon is known for its luxury real estate and boasts a median household income of more than $200,000. It has a median home price of more than $2 million.
Only one group opposed the ordinance — the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance — which represents and advocates for small gas station and convenience store operators.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
