Good for business. Good for youth. Good for our community.

Tobacco Retailer Licensing Ordinance in the News

• Article 1
• Article 2

Objective

Reduce the access of tobacco and tobacco paraphernalia among minors. All Tobacco Retailers are required to purchase a local license in addition to the State Board of Equalization license required by the State of California.

Introduction

The tobacco retailers licensing ordinance is about protecting our most important investments: our merchants and our youth. By purchasing a permit to sell tobacco and tobacco paraphernalia, merchants will fulfill their legal obligation, their civic duty, and most of all; they will have a golden opportunity to protect the health and safety of our youth.

The following campaign began with creating a partnership between the City and the business community to reduce the access of tobacco and tobacco paraphernalia among our minors.

Permit Required

No person shall engage in or operate as a tobacco retailer without first obtaining and maintaining a valid tobacco retailer’s permit pursuant to this chapter for each location at which that activity is to occur.

Campaign

Pre-notification letter:

A pre-notification letter was sent to all merchants in Glendale that sell tobacco and tobacco products that were registered with the State Board of Equalization to give them advance notice of the ordinance. The letter has a detachable form that merchants could return if they wanted to remain informed of the progress of the ordinance implementation.

What was the letter supposed to accomplish?

The letter was meant to gain merchant support of reducing access of tobacco to minors and provide them with advance notification of the upcoming ordinance.

What happened after the letter was sent?

Town Hall meetings were scheduled where retailers were invited to hear and ask questions about the new ordinance and provide input on the implementation of it.

The ordinance was drafted again to contain the retailer suggestions and input and then brought to the Glendale City Council for approval. The City Council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance on September 18th 2007.

Additional Resources

• GMC Code Online: GMC 5.44 - Tobacco Retailers
• Regulations on flavored tobacco

• Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Contact Information

For more information, contact Neighborhood Services at (818) 548-3700.