LA MESA MOVES ON NEW RULES FOR TOBACCO SELLERS

La Mesa is moving to create new rules for anyone selling tobacco within the city in an effort to thwart sales to underage buyers.

A proposed ordinance would charge businesses fees to be licensed, increase oversight and limit sales near schools, playgrounds and other public areas.

In a 4-1 vote on Tuesday, the council directed staff to draft the new regulations in the next two months.

This is “a growing problem in our community,” said Councilmember Jack Shu, who put forward the changes. “We know that youth, if they pick up smoking at an early age — that’s when they continue being smokers for much of their life.”

The law already bars sales to anyone under 21, and California voters recently moved to ban f lavored products. But some advocates say enforcement is lacking.

In July, a local organization sent someone under 21 into La Mesa stores to try and buy tobacco. They succeeded well over half the time, according to Community Action, Service & Advocacy, or CASA.

Similar ordinances have passed in other parts of the county.

El Cajon has annually charged sellers more than $700, which can help finance compliance checks, although retailers pay less if all rules are followed.

Breaking the law can trigger fines and suspensions. The city has worked with CASA to test local stores, and in 2019 El Cajon found the number of first-time violations had decreased during a three-year period, according to public records.

The county Board of Supervisors moved last year to ramp up its fee to $1,460, drawing condemnation from some business groups who said the extra costs, combined with other rules, were hurting smaller owners.

“In just 10 months, the tobacco ordinance has devastated local retailers,” Marlon Mansour, president of the Neighborhood Market Association, said at the time.

La Mesa’s lone “no” vote came from Councilmember Laura Lothian.

“I hate cigarettes, I’ve never touched one in my life,” she said, “but I don’t understand adding more laws and more rules and more regulations if we’re not already enforcing the ones on the books.”

The mayor said he was supportive of the measure in general but worried enforcement could be lacking, citing previous efforts to ban smoking in parks and other shared spaces.

“What I see is lots of people smoking in public,” said Mark Arapostathis. “I want to do this right.”

City Manager Greg Humora said a decision still needed to be made about who would conduct compliance checks if the ordinance was written and approved.

Several members of the public spoke in favor of new limits, citing a range of statistics about the harm tobacco can cause.

Nearly 90 percent of adults who daily smoke cigarettes first tried smoking by age 18, although tobacco use among middle and high school students has recently decreased, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The mayor pushed for the creation of an education campaign to accompany any ordinance.

Tuesday’s vote also created a subcommittee made up of Shu and Councilmember Patricia Dillard to help craft the rules.