Tiburon targets youth vaping by banning all tobacco sales

Tiburon is poised to ban the retail sale of all tobacco vaping products.

The Town Council unanimously voted Wednesday to approve the ban introduced by Mayor Holli Thier for the county health department’s Youth Advocacy Committee.

“We’re going to talk about tobacco and nicotine use in Marin,” Rhett Krawitt, a Redwood High School senior, said in a presentation. “Vaping rates in Marin are nearly double the California statewide average. … And, like vaping, cigarette smoking rates in Marin are higher than statewide averages.”

“Twenty-five percent of Marin seventh-graders said it was easy to obtain vape products,” Krawitt said, citing the state’s most recent data. “Comparatively, 62% of ninth-graders and 70% of 11th-graders said that it was easy to obtain these vape products. So that means that Marin needs to take actionable steps.”

Tiburon has a history of banning public tobacco use. Currently, it has no retailers selling cigarettes and vape products. Becoming Northern California’s first municipality to ban vaping products was an important public health statement, supporters said in personal testimonials.

“I am no fan of tobacco companies and their success in manipulating so many generations into smoking,” said Councilmember Alice Fredericks. “I have a grandfather who died of lung cancer. I have a mother who died of throat and face cancer. I have a father who died of a heart attack … They were all heavy smokers, and at one time, they were part of the generation that thought it was a glamorous thing to do as a result of incredibly effective marketing.”

“You know, I have two children,” Thier said. “My daughter did not want to go to the bathroom at the high school. And I said why? Why would you not use the bathroom there? And she said because it’s full of kids vaping. It is full of smoke. Every stall is full of people vaping.”

“I graduated high school a few years ago, but growing up in Marin, vaping and nicotine products were something that were so easy to access,” said Dalia Zail, who attended Tamalpais High School. “That really contributed to my use. … I’ve only known my friends to use cigarettes after they had already started vaping.”

Two other California cities, Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach, have banned retail sales of nicotine products, said Town Manager Greg Chanis. To date, no lawsuit has succeeded in overturning those local laws by arguing they were pre-empted by state or federal laws, he said.

Supporters said the retail sales ban is one tactic to try to prevent youth smoking and addiction. Across California, 129 municipalities in 29 counties have local laws that regulate the density of tobacco retailers. On Tuesday, Marin supervisors will consider legislation “to establish a minimum floor price law for tobacco and nicotine products and a ban on the sale of electronic smoking devices and heated smoking systems in the unincorporated areas of Marin County.”

The measure’s importance should not be underestimated, supporters said.

“Many people may ask, why would the town of Tiburon be looking at this since they don’t have any tobacco retailers?” said Bob Curry, co-chair of Smoke-Free Marin Coalition. “I think the main reason is the whole goal of our tobacco program in Marin County and the state is to change social norms.”

“Vaping is the path to nicotine addiction and smoking,” said Dr. Sarita Satpathy of the San Francisco-Marin Medical Society. “This visionary action championed by these high school students can serve as an inspiration to re-energize and reinvigorate efforts across our nation to achieve the tobacco endgame.”

“I’d also like to share some additional information about teen nicotine and cannabis use,” said Elizabeth O’Donnell, with Marin Residents for Public Health Cannabis Policies. “By keeping nicotine products out of town, you’re also helping reduce the risks of early cannabis use and long-term addiction.”

The only opposition came from Jaime Rojas, a lobbyist for the National Association of Tobacco Retailers.

“This ordinance simply isn’t necessary,” he said. “Tiburon has no retailers selling tobacco products. That makes this solve a problem that does not exist.”

“Passing an ordinance with no practical effect sends the wrong message to the business community,” Rojas said. “If Tiburon youth are using tobacco products, then it is definitely because they bought those products online (or) outside city limits. … There are practical alternatives that can protect public health without a total ban.”

“It’s kind of depressing to see that we have no tobacco sales in Tiburon and yet our youth are using it at a higher rate,” said Councilmember Jack Ryan. “It kind of shows, to Mr. Rojas’ point, that there is a limit to legislation. But I think his conclusions were flawed.”

“I think it is important to send messages to disincentivize (vaping), to make it harder to get,” he said. “There’s a lot of really compelling reasons to enact legislation to prevent tobacco sales, even if you think at first they’ll be at the margin. I think it’s important to get everything moving in the right direction.”