Watch your pack, Santa Barbara County.
New restrictions on where tobacco-selling stores can be located, and the stiffening of penalties against stores that sell to minors, went into effect on Dec. 9.
The new ordinance comes after the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on Nov. 9 to amend tobacco control sections of the County Code.
Changes include limiting retailers from selling any tobacco product within 1,000 feet of schools, tightening guidelines and penalties for selling such products to minors, and increasing tobacco licensing fees.
The new rules apply only to stores in the unincorporated areas of the county.
“The business community is having an increase in fees at a time when the economy is rough, so there will be that impact,” Dawn Dunn, administrator of the department’s Tobacco Prevention Settlement Program, told the Sun, “but the goal is—and I think everyone agrees—we want youth access to tobacco to be as limited and difficult as possible. And the adults who sell tobacco should be held to higher standards.”
According to the county Department of Public Health, 31 percent of illegal sales to minors since 2008 happened within a distance of 1,000 feet from a school.
“This change is needed to protect the health and safety of children and promote public health,” 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal, who sponsored the measure, said in a press release.
If caught selling to minors, stores will now be held to a 30-day suspension of their ability to either sell or advertise tobacco products. Previously, retailers in violation of the law would be issued a letter of warning for a first offense.
A second violation would yield a 90-day suspension, but penalties for a third strike varied based on the retailer’s proximity to schools. Specifically, stores outside of the 1,000-foot restricted area would be subject to a tobacco license revocation for one year, while those closer to schools could have theirs revoked for up to five years.
Also under the new law, retailers will be paying heftier license fees, which will take effect in January, 2011, but will be phased in over the next three years. Fee scheduling is set at $250 in 2011 and 2012, rising to $435 in 2013.
The annual fee for a tobacco retail license has been set at $30 since 2002. A recent fee study determined that the new law would cost $435 per retailer to administer and enforce the new ordinance.
Applicable businesses can expect educational site visits from Public Health Department staffers within the first few months of 2011 to assist in the transition.
The Public Health department urges anyone with questions or tips regarding illegal tobacco sales in Northern Santa Barbara County to call health educator Trina Long at 346-7275.
News Briefs is compiled by Sun staffers from staff reporting and local and national media. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Dec 16-23, 2010.