The Los Angeles City Council has implemented a 30-day license suspension for retailers caught selling tobacco products to minors.

Students from Fairfax High School frequently walk past the smoke shop located on Melrose Avenue, across from the campus. (photo by Edwin Folven)

The change to the city’s existing tobacco retailer permit ordinance was authored by Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, and will go into effect on Sept. 30. It brings the city in line with laws in other large cities in the state, he said. Previously, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office would issue a letter of reprimand when retailers were cited for a first offense of selling tobacco to a minor.

“This revised ordinance puts us on par with what other cities are doing,” O’Farrell said. “There are around 5,000 tobacco retailers in the city, and we have 1,000 violations on average per year. That tells me we have a problem.”

Nora Manzanilla, program director for Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer’s tobacco enforcement program, said the sale of tobacco to minors is a serious issue the city is proactively attempting to regulate. The city contracts with the California Department of Public Health to conduct minor decoy stings at retailers in the city, and the city attorney’s office prosecutes retailers who are caught selling tobacco to individuals under the age of 18.

All retailers who sell tobacco products must obtain a permit from the city, including businesses that sell electronic cigarettes. In addition to a 30-day suspension for a first offense, the adjustment to the city’s ordinance includes a 90-day permit suspension for a second offense within five years, a 120- suspension for a third offense and the revocation of a permit for a fourth offense.

“Tobacco use continues to be the number one preventable disease, and our goal is to prevent the use uptake of tobacco products by limiting access,” Manzanilla said. “Much of our enforcement efforts are focused on retailers around schools. There is a nexus between tobacco sales and permits and schools.”

The city’s tobacco retailer permit ordinance was enacted in 2000. Manzanilla said there are no zoning laws in Los Angeles regulating the proximity of tobacco retailers to schools, so the city aggressively enforces laws pertaining to tobacco sales to prevent sales to minors. Retailers such as a smoke shop located on Melrose Avenue across from Fairfax High School are a concern, and Manzanilla said it is the type of business the city wants to make sure follows the law regarding tobacco sales to minors.

Fairfax High School assistant principal Leonard Choi added that he has not heard of any issues involving the smoke shop on Melrose Avenue, but it is something school administrators continuously monitor.

“I think there is definitely a general concern because it is in front of our school,” Choi said. “There are two snack places [nearby] that our students go to after school. We have had no incidents, but we always remain vigilant about who may be going there.”

O’Farrell said he remains focused on preventing teen smoking, and added that he also plans to work on ways to reduce the use of e-cigarettes by minors. The councilman said he recently heard stories about parents providing e-cigarettes to their teens because they believe they are safer than cigarettes — a notion O’Farrell hopes to dispel. He added that more outreach will be conducted in the coming months at schools to disseminate information about the dangers of tobacco use and e-cigarettes.

“We are forming partnerships and putting the issue of smoking at the forefront,” he added. “I believe it’s a very sensible way forward.”