Flavored Tobacco Products To Be Banned In Redwood City

REDWOOD CITY, CA — Redwood City is banning the sale of flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes, and the sale of all tobacco products at pharmacies.

The city council voted 6-1 at a meeting Monday in favor of the ordinance, which affects 58 tobacco retail license holders in the city. The ban would go into effect next April, after a second reading by the council in December.

Senate Bill 793, which prohibited the sale and distribution of flavored tobacco products statewide, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in August 2020, but was placed on hold after a successful veto referendum.

In lieu of a statewide ban, eight cities in San Mateo County — Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, San Carlos, San Mateo, and South San Francisco — have adopted flavored tobacco ordinances, and the city of Pacifica is also considering one, according to a Redwood City staff report.

The Redwood City ordinance also prohibits new hookah lounges from obtaining permits to sell flavored tobacco for on-site consumption, though it provides an exception for current hookah lounges. Councilmember Lissette Espinoza-Garnica took exception to that part of the ordinance as she cast the lone vote in dissent, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal.

“Ask how many councilmembers want to outlaw wine bars and see how they feel about it,” Espinoza-Garnica said at the meeting, according to the Daily Journal. “I don’t want us to shame each other’s vices based on cultural biases.”

Click here to read the staff report and here for the ordinance.