On Oct. 20, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 20-year-old Solvang man in connection with arranging to meet a 12-year-old minor for lewd purposes. The suspect, Angel Saloman, allegedly attempted to lure the child into sexual acts in exchange for flavored tobacco products, an Oct. 29 statement from the Sheriff’s Office said. The investigation is ongoing.
According to Megan Kenney, health educator with the county’s Tobacco Prevention Program, this incident illustrates a broader issue. Not only does the tobacco industry target youth through flavored products, but these products can then be used as bait to draw children into dangerous situations.
“We often look at flavored tobacco use among youth kind of in a silo,” Kenney said. “Maybe they’re using it at school, maybe they’re getting a hold of it in other ways. … Then to see flavored tobacco being used as a commodity to lure kids into these unfortunate situations is hard to hear.”
While the county Board of Supervisors voted to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in December 2019, the board’s jurisdiction only covers unincorporated parts of the county. It’s up to individual city councils to adopt ordinances that prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco.
Some have done just that.
“Back in fall of 2019, the city of Carpinteria passed an emergency ordinance. It’s a temporary moratorium that bans flavored tobacco, vaping products, and vaping devices. So that was the first one,” Kenney said. “Then came Santa Maria in December. … Then Guadalupe more recently passed a flavor ban in July of 2020.”
Guadalupe’s ban became the most stringent in the county, as it not only prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco but also covers secondhand smoke protections in public and multi-unit housing. This is important because it addresses the dangers of what is called “third-hand smoke,” the residual nicotine left on indoor surfaces by tobacco smoke.
Yaneth Rodriguez, project manager at the Institute of Prevention Research at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, spoke at a Nov. 6 CEASE meeting. CEASE, which stands for Coalition Engaged in a Smoke-Free Effort, is a group of individuals and organizations in Santa Barbara County with a focus on educating people about the harmful effects of tobacco products.
“USC just recently did some focus groups with different tenants that live in multi-unit housing, and we asked about third-hand smoke. It’s interesting that some communities know about third-hand and others don’t,” Rodriguez said at the meeting. “They were saying, ‘You could just clean,’ but that’s not necessarily true. … From some of the current third-hand research and information, some of that is really hard to take out even after cleaning and washing. So third-hand smoke is another issue that I think people need to be educated on.”
Kenney, who is also part of CEASE, said Guadalupe is the only city in the county with a multi-unit housing policy on tobacco in addition to the flavored tobacco ban. But in the months since Guadalupe’s historic ordinance, no other cities have passed flavored tobacco bans, though advocacy groups have tried to make it happen.
“More recently, the Buellton City Council was talking about a flavored tobacco ban,” Kenney said. “The Santa Ynez Valley Youth Coalition was really involved with educating the community and educating City Council members.”
Minutes from Buellton’s Aug. 27 City Council meeting show that Mayor Holly Sierra requested to agendize a discussion to ban Buellton retailers from selling flavored tobacco products after members of the Santa Ynez Valley Youth Coalition submitted public comments supporting a ban.
On Sept. 10, the council discussed the possibility of conducting a survey regarding a ban in Buellton and creating an educational campaign to discourage flavored tobacco use, and requested that “code enforcement visit Buellton retailers selling flavored tobacco products to ensure that vaping products are locked and restricted from youth access,” according to the meeting’s minutes.
Then at the Oct. 8 meeting, Councilmember John Sanchez stated that he “visited all flavored tobacco vendors in Buellton and announced that all vendors said they are aware of the laws associated with selling flavored tobacco products to minors,” according to the minutes. At the council’s Oct. 22 meeting, the minutes show that a flavored tobacco ban was not agendized nor discussed, and the agenda for the upcoming Nov. 12 meeting shows no further plans for discussion.
According to CalSCHLS—the California School Climate, Health, and Learning Surveys—29 percent of Santa Ynez Union High School District 11th graders reported e-cigarette use in the past 30 days. This district serves both Solvang high school students, where the Oct. 20 incident occurred, and Buellton high school students. The survey was last conducted for the 2018-19 school year.
By contrast, Carpinteria Unified School District reported that 8 percent of 11th graders had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, and Santa Maria Joint Union High School District reported 11 percent. However, both Carpinteria and Santa Maria passed their respective tobacco ordinances after the 2018-19 school year had ended, so potential impacts of the bans aren’t yet reflected in the data.
Like Buellton and Solvang, Lompoc is another city that hasn’t implemented a flavored tobacco ban. According to the CalSCHLS survey, 17 percent of Lompoc Unified School District 11th graders had used an electronic cigarette in the last 30 days at the time the survey was conducted.
Kenney said that electronic cigarette usage, on average, is higher in Santa Barbara County school districts compared to state averages.
“When we look at the surveys that specifically measure prevalence of electronic-cigarette use among youth (under 18), we do see a higher prevalence in Santa Barbara County when compared to the state,” Kenney wrote via email. “Overall, regular, unflavored cigarette smoking has declined and our prevalence in Santa Barbara County is comparable to the state prevalence (around 2 to 3 percent). However electronic cigarette usage is continually trending upward.”
Kenney is hopeful that the bans will have a positive impact on the numbers.
“That’s really our goal with these local policies,” Kenney said. “To reduce youth access and then hopefully reduce the use of these products.”
Staff Writer Malea Martin can be reached at mmartin@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 12-19, 2020.
