UNION CITY, Calif. — Union City is considering a blanket ban on the sale of all electronic cigarette products in the city, but retailers say that banning all vaping products would be counterproductive.
On Tuesday, Jan. 23, the Union City City Council discussed amendments to the Tobacco Retailers Ordinance that would ban the sale of vaping and flavored tobacco products, prohibit the acceptance of coupons or discounts for any tobacco items, raise the minimum prices for individual ($8) and packs of cigars ($15 for a minimum of 10), disallow pharmacies from selling tobacco, impose a 500-foot distance requirement between tobacco retailers, and raise fines for violations.
Store owners found violating any of those provisions within a five-year period would face escalating fines and penalties:
- First violation: $250 fine and 30-day license suspension;
- Second violation: $500 fine and a 90-day license suspension;
- Third and subsequent violations: $1,000 fine, a one-year license suspension after the third violation and a license revocation after the fourth. If revoked, the store would not be able to receive a new license for at least five years.
Proponents of the amendments, such as Councilmember Scott Sakakihara, spoke about relatives of theirs who smoked and the need to prevent young people from starting such a dangerous habit. Sakakihara recommended additional amendments, such as requiring ID checks when selling any products intended for people over the age of 21, regardless of the person’s age.
The amendments are expected to be further refined at the legislation and policy committee before returning to the council at one of its February meetings. The amendments have a tentative implementation date of June 1.
Members of the public were split on the amendments.
Several students and public health officials spoke in favor of a blanket ban because of the public health benefits.
Alyssa Mamaclay, a public health student at California State University at East Bay, told the council that a ban was necessary because of how widely available tobacco products are to young people in Union City. A survey of local 11th grade students found nearly one in five had used e-cigarettes and two-thirds believed they were easy to obtain, she said.
Mamaclay added that, out of a sample of 14 tobacco retailers in the city, one-third sold tobacco products to underage decoys during a 2021 investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Jamie Rojas, of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, representing many of the city’s tobacco retailers, contested this, citing U.S. Food and Drug Administration compliance checks. Records reveal that since 2013, retailers in the city have denied tobacco sales to underage individuals 62 times, while selling to underage people occurred only six times in the same period.
“Retailers are doing their job,” Rojas said.
Rojas pointed to a study led by Yale University that found banning flavored vaping products in San Francisco led to an increase in teens smoking conventional cigarettes.
Introduced into the market around 2009, battery-powered vape pens heat liquid nicotine or cannabis solutions, which can be tailored by flavor and strength, into a vapor that can be inhaled, offering a cleaner smoke than combustible cigarettes.
While rates of smoking combustible cigarettes have been declining among youths, the rate of young people smoking e-cigarettes began to climb noticeably in 2014. However, the percentage of high school students who reported vaping in the past 30 days declined from 14.1% to 10% during the 2022-2023 school year, according to a study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The decline in e-cigarette use among high school students shows great progress, but our work is far from over,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a November statement. “Findings from this report underscore the threat that commercial tobacco product use poses to the health of our nation’s youth. It is imperative that we prevent youth from starting to use tobacco and help those who use tobacco to quit.”
The report found that about half of students who have ever tried e-cigarettes reported that they were currently using them. Of those currently vaping, a quarter were vaping daily.
Nearly nine out of 10 students used flavored e-cigarettes, with disposable devices being the most commonly used.
Sonia Waraich can be reached at 510-952-7455.
