Tobacco retailers who break law to face hefty fine

The Calabasas City Council passed an ordinance that will impose a $1,000 fine on retailers who sell tobacco to minors. The store owners could also have their right to sell tobacco products revoked.

A new Calabasas tobacco retailer registration program will require any retailer selling tobacco in the city to be registered.

The council decided not to require a fee for the application, but if a business is caught violating the tobacco law by selling to a minor, the city can impose sanctions.

Councilmember Dennis Washburn and Mayor Jonathon Wolfson fought for dropping the fee when the council first discussed the issue in March. At the time, Mayor Pro Tem Barry Groveman said he'd be willing to forgo the fee if the minimum fine for violating the law was $1,000, which was worked into the ordinance. He said late last month he wanted the retailers to have to renew their registration each year as a reminder.

Deborah Levi, an outreach specialist for the Valley Community Clinic, was one of many speakers who commended the city.

"Three out of four smokers start before the age of 18," Levi said. "It's crucial for communities to prevent current and future generations of kids from dying prematurely from a smoking-related illness whenever possible."

Some raised concerns that there were no fees attached to the registration, which would earn money for tobacco program funding. The council discussed keeping the registration nocost but decided to make it mandatory to do three stings a year with the city's own money. They will look again at that aspect of the ordinance in one year.

City Planner Michael Klein personally visited every tobacco retailer and informed them of the proposed ordinance. Klein said he received only one letter from a retailer with concerns about the ordinance.

Stephen Gallegos, a smokefree advocacy and programs manager for the American Lung Association, pointed out in March that Calabasas dropped fromanAgradetoaBgradein the association's ongoing air quality ranking because it lacked a tobacco retail licensing policy.

While Calabasas again scored an A for overall air quality, it received an F for its tobacco licensing efforts. Overall, the city was given a B.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department performed a tobacco sting May 8. Youth decoys were able to purchase cigarettes at five of the 14 tobacco retailers in Calabasas. In other words, minors were able to buy tobacco illegally 35 percent of the time.

"To put that into perspective, the statewide rate is only 12.6 percent," Klein said. "Our rate of illegal tobacco sale is nearly three times higher than the statewide rate.

"The problem now is that the only person held responsible is the clerk who sold (the tobacco product)," Klein said. "The point of this ordinance is that it forces the employer to assume responsibility and make sure their employees are selling tobacco appropriately."

Groveman was especially passionate about taking a "strong stand."

"This product shouldn't even be sold," Groveman said. "And there will be a day we'll look back on it we'll be sorry we didn't do stronger things. . . . But if it's going to exist in this city, we ought to be doing everything we can to make sure people understand the dangerous product they're using.

"I have pictures of all these kids in my mind sitting in a hospital room with a respirator in 50 years. Their lungs are going to hurt, and they're going to be dying. And we have an obligation to make sure that we've done everything we can to prevent that."