There are serious issues facing the City of Oakland and its residents like crime, homelessness, lack of affordable housing, and gentrification. Instead of addressing these issues, the City Council is focusing on banning menthol cigarettes, flavored vaping liquids, and other tobacco products. It just won’t work, and will cause more problems than it claims to solve.

 The City hasn’t even done an Economic Impact Study to see how many jobs this will cost, nor heard from the Commission on Racial and Economic Justice how this will impact people of color.

Oakland has a lot of problems to face. 

Make your voice heard by sending a letter to your councilmember, telling them to focus on these issues!

The city’s effort to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored vape liquids, blunt wraps and other tobacco products will push sales to the underground economy, creating unwanted problems. And those willing to deal out of the back of a car won’t hesitate selling to kids.

The ban also won’t stop people from going to Richmond, Alameda, San Leandro and other neighboring communities to purchase the tobacco products they want. This plan just hurts local mom and pop retailers.

The California Legislature recently increased the age to purchase tobacco to 21 years old. The effective way to keep tobacco out of the hands of kids is to crack down hard on anyone who sells to minors, and make sure that only licensed, legitimate retailers who check ID every time are allowed to sell tobacco.