DATE: March 26, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Development Services Department
TITLE: UPDATE ON THE CITY'S TOBACCO RETAILER LICENSE PROGRAM
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council receive an update on the City's Tobacco Retailer License (TRL) program.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The City's TRL program was initiated following requests from community health advocates concerned about youth access to tobacco products. Statewide statistics citing 2018 data showed that 1 in 8 high school students had used a tobacco product, and nearly 85 percent of the tobacco products used by high school students were electronic smoking devices, or "vapes." Vista Community Clinic (VCC) conducted its own research on teen access to tobacco products in Oceanside, which included underage buy operations. The results found that despite existing State law prohibitions on these sales, persons under the age of 21 were frequently able to purchase tobacco products. VCC recommended the creation of a TRL program as an additional tool to reduce youth tobacco use, citing the successful implementation of similar TRL programs in other North County cities. On August 19, 2020, the City Council unanimously voted in favor of adopting Oceanside's own TRL ordinance. Upon adoption of the ordinance, Council directed staff to return to Council with a future update on how the program is operating. The purpose of this agenda item is to present such information.
Since adoption of the City's TRL ordinance, additional State assembly bills, senate bills, and ballot propositions have been passed to further restrict access to flavored tobacco products. Senate Bill 793, the first legislation to prohibit flavored tobacco products in the State, was immediately challenged by referendum, eventually making its way to the November 2022 General Election ballot as Proposition 31. The proposition supported the State's ban on flavored tobacco products; it passed with...
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