Livermore, Calif. Voters Will Decide Flavored Tobacco Ban

A ban on the sales of flavored tobacco in Livermore, Calif. has been put on hold after the city council certified a petition seeking its repeal on Monday, which means that voters will decide the ban during a special election on March 3 that will coincide with the state’s primary elections.

The ban was unanimously passed in late June and meant that all retailers within the city would have been prohibited from selling flavored tobacco and electronic nicotine delivery devices. Bans such as this have been gaining steam in the area, as Livermore was following the lead of San Francisco, Alameda, San Rafael, Berkeley and Oakland. The state’s capitol city, Sacramento, also passed its own ban. However, a bill seeking to ban flavored tobacco at the state level failed earlier this year.

The drive to get the matter revisited  was led by JUUL, the San Francisco-based electronic cigarette maker. By gathering enough valid signatures on a petition, the city council was forced to either repeal the ban or send it to voters, and ultimately chose to do the latter.

Additionally, the council deferred a final vote on whether or not to establish a tobacco retailer license requirement.

Livermore is home to just over 90,000 people, located 45 miles east of San Francisco.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.