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Page 3 of 7 <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.org <br />the premises of a tobacco retailer, including but not limited to Section 6404.5 of the Labor Code, <br />which is concerned with the health of employees’ exposure to secondhand smoke. <br />The Labor Code also addresses on-site consumption of non-flavored tobacco and was updated on January <br />1, 2023, to prohibit the smoking of tobacco products in all enclosed places of employment in the State, <br />eliminating the need for local governments to enact workplace smoking regulations. There are only seven <br />listed exceptions, most notably: <br />1. 20% of guest rooms in hotels and motels. <br />2. Retail or wholesale tobacco shops or private smokers’ lounges, defined as an enclosed area in or <br />attached to a retail or wholesale tobacco shop that is dedicated to the use of tobacco products. <br />3. Private residences, except for private residences licensed at family day care homes where smoking is <br />prohibited. <br />If food or beverage is served, the retail or wholesale tobacco shop or private smokers’ lounge is no longer <br />considered “dedicated to the sale of tobacco” and therefore does not qualify for an exemption. Further, <br />on January 1, 2024, the California Legislature adopted AB 935, which strengthened the State’s flavored <br />tobacco products retail law, by establishing the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) as the <br />primary state enforcement agency, increasing penalties for retailers who do not comply with the law, and <br />changing the definition of a retail location. The CDPH’s Office of Youth Tobacco Enforcement (OYTE) was <br />further designated as the primary State enforcement agency. <br />In jurisdictions with an existing ordinance related to the sale of flavored tobacco products, the State law <br />replaces an existing local ordinance unless the local ordinance is more restrictive than State law. If an <br />existing local ordinance is more restrictive than State law (e.g. prohibits the sale of all flavored tobacco <br />products), then retailers in that jurisdiction must comply with the more restrictive local ordinance. As <br />discussed in more detail below, the San Mateo County flavored tobacco ordinance prohibits the sale of all <br />flavored tobacco and is therefore more restrictive than then State ordinance, which has some exemptions <br />for flavored shisha/hookah tobacco. <br />County of San Mateo Modifies Tobacco Ordinance <br />On May 23, 2023, the San Mateo County Supervisors adopted an ordinance to regulate tobacco retailers <br />in the unincorporated portions of the County. This new law, proposed by the SMC Health Department, <br />increases penalties on businesses that sell tobacco products to minors in an effort to prevent youth <br />nicotine addiction. <br />The County’s ordinance also prohibits issuing these permits to any location within 1,000 feet of a “youth <br />populated area,” like schools and playgrounds, or within 500 feet of an existing tobacco retailer. Further, <br />the County’s ordinance bans the sale of hookah products in any location. The County ordinance was <br />adopted based on research that shows hookah smoking is most common among individuals who are 18- <br />24 years old (6.1 percent compared 1.9 percent for other adults), in part because it is often smoked in <br />groups as a social activity. In fact, although hookah use originated as a cultural and social practice among <br />Middle Easterners, Indians, Armenians and Persians, in California the Hispanic/Latin population makes up <br />the largest proportion of young adult hookah users (51.4%). <br />9.A. - Page 3 of 7 <br />335