Brentwood extends ban on new tobacco smoke shops

Council vows to work to add new rules on tobacco sales and locations.

Brentwood’s ban on new tobacco smoke shops will continue for at least another year.

The City Council unanimously agreed to the extension this week after hearing a number of students, health advocates and parents request just that as well as tougher rules regarding tobacco sales.

Isabelle Kirske, senior health educator with Contra Costa health tobacco prevention program, told the council that “unless tobacco use rates decline, an estimated 441,000 of all California youth who are alive today will die prematurely from smoking related diseases.”

“Our goal is to change that,” she said.

Kirske added that Brentwood had recently received an “F” on its tobacco policy scorecard from the American Lung Association for its lack of regulations.

Moreover, Kirske said there are 44 tobacco retailers in the city, 37 of which are located within a two-block radius of places where young people frequent like schools, parks, playgrounds. Of those, she counted 12 “significant retailers” – 10 tobacco smoke shops and two hookah lounges, all within 1,000 feet of those areas where youth congregate.

According to the 2021 to 2022 California Healthy Kids survey for Liberty High School District, 25% of 11th-graders report having used a vape product, and on a state level, 72% of 11th-graders report that vapes are easy to access according to recent data from the 2022 California youth tobacco survey.

The data shows that since March of 2020 Brentwood also has seen the greatest increase – at 33% – in the number of tobacco retailers in Contra Costa County, and has the fewest number of local policies to curb youth access, she said. It also has double the number of recommended retailers for a city its size, Kirske noted.

“Our communities can set a limit on the number of all tobacco retailers, not just smoke shops,” Kirske added. “It can also set a minimum price and pack size for tobacco products, so products can’t be sold cheaply in small packs, which we know are more appealing to price sensitive individuals like our young people.”

Several students also spoke out, noting tobacco products are prevalent in Brentwood schools and easy to access.

Sanvi Panda, 14, said tobacco companies “have targeted kids forever.”

“As a high schooler I cannot walk into any bathroom on my campus without smelling the sickening smell of smoke with the sugary aerosol from the vapes,” she said. “And the worst part is, it’s not just something that you see other kids doing, you know that anyone can get roped into it. It could be my friends, the people I care about.”

One resident, though, said he would be “more supportive” of the ordinance if it stopped tobacco sales “at every establishment in this city” equally.

“I’m up here because it has to do with choice,” Danny Dohrman said. “And I’m talking about those who choose to buy a product or service…Let’s not be the morality police.”

Dohrman also said there should be some shared responsibility with schools and parents.

“I’m not advocating smoking,” he added. “This is simply advocating business.”

During council discussion, Vice Mayor Susannah Meyer said she supported the ban.

“The stats that we’re hearing tonight are appalling and, frankly, embarrassing,” Meyer said. “ So you put it on us and we need to act on it. Now this responsibility is on our shoulders to make things better. And I strongly believe we need to do that.”

Councilwoman Pa’Tanisha Pierson was also in support.

“I would wholeheartedly think that tonight we need to be able to make some decisions about adding tobacco policies, not just for smoke shops but for all tobacco retailers,” Pierson said.

“One of the things I would actually ask tonight is that we put a tobacco retail license in place,” she added. “The retail license is only $265 per year per location, which is a really insignificant amount. But what it would do is ensure compliance with local laws. And reduce youth access to tobacco.”

Mayor Joel Bryant meanwhile reiterated his “absolute and total belief in an individuals’ personal rights.”

“Having said that, it is our absolute obligation to take a stand against something that is wrong – and more than take a stand,” the mayor said in his support of the ban.

“And so if if we are going to protect one of the most vulnerable demographics, in our community, our children, we’ve got to do something that not only protects them and makes it more difficult for the predators that are preying upon their futures and their health to do get access to them,” he added. “But I would love to see as severe standards we can and measures from can to those who violated at the state level.”

Councilwoman Jovita Mendoza, who had advanced the ordinance, moved to approve the extension but wanted to take it farther and consider new rules on tobacco sales and locations at a future meeting.

The tobacco urgency ordinance was originally adopted in September of 2022 while the city began studying what permanent tobacco sales regulations it wanted to enact. The moratorium was then extended the following month for another year. It was set to expire on Sept. 8 had the council not voted to extend it this week.

The moratorium will now expire on Sept. 8, 2024.