On Tuesday, the Palo Alto City Council passed an ordinance that will ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes within the city by a 4-3 vote.

The split vote resulted from opposition from a trio of council members who had sought exemptions for five businesses which sold such products but limited access to adults only, including one business that has been in operation for 85 years. It was a push that was ultimately defeated, as language providing such an exemption was stripped out of the ordinance during previous city council hearings.

The ban is set to go into effect 31 days following its adoption. It comes as California is considering its own ban on flavored tobacco products, as well as just a few weeks after Los Angeles County was sued by three tobacco companies over its ban.

Palo Alto is home to approximately 67,000 residents and is located approximately 33 miles southeast of San Francisco.

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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.