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The Walnut Creek City Council on Tuesday will consider banning the sale of flavored tobacco and electronic smoking devices within city limits.
The move is aimed at young smokers, attracted to flavored products for electronic vaping. A staff report for Tuesday’s meeting quotes U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics saying smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. (more than 480,000 annually). It also says nearly nine out of every 10 adult smokers try smoking by the age of 18.
The city’s ban would be more restrictive than current federal and state laws, though it would provide an exemption for adult-only hookah tobacco businesses. The ordnance would include a five-month enforcement delay to allow retailers to comply with the new restrictions.
The city would be following Contra Costa County, who reaffirmed its 2019 ban restricting the sale of flavored vaping products and electronic devices in July. That ordinance only covers the county’s unincorporated areas.
Both the county and the Mount Diablo Unified School District have urged local cities to enact their own bans. Similar bans are already in place in Lafayette, Dublin and South San Francisco.
The council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 2) at the council chamber, 1666 North Main Street, in Walnut Creek. To watch the meeting online, go to www.zoom.us (webinar 831 8185 5375, passcode 395987. The meeting can also be accessed by phone, at 1-669-900-6833.
