Tiburon is going cold turkey this holiday season—at least, when it comes to the sale of tobacco. The Town Council in this week became the first jurisdiction in the nation to ban the sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products, without exemptions.
A handful of towns in California have placed bans on the selling of tobacco products, but those offer certain exemptions. Despite the strict nature of the new regulation, effective Dec. 5, Tiburon residents might not notice much different in their lives—no retailers currently sell tobacco products in the southern Marin town anyway, according to city officials.
The Tiburon tobacco-sales restriction comes as Marin County as a whole is considering measures to discourage tobacco sales. In October the Board of Supervisors heard a proposed ordinance to establish a minimum price of $12 for all tobacco-smoking devices (with a $1 increase every two years) and prohibit the use of coupons and discounts.
“Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, and in Marin, nearly half of 11th graders report having tried vaping,” said Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County public health officer, in a statement of support for the so-called Tobacco Minimum Floor Price Law (MFPL) ordinance.
