2000 Center Street, Suite 308, Berkeley, CA 94704 www.preventionpolicygroup.org November 2, 2025
San Jose City Council
[email protected]
Item 7.2 25-1166 Temporary Moratorium on the Issuance of Tobacco Retail Licenses.
To the Honorable Matt Mahan, Mayor, and Councilmembers Kamei, Campos, Tordillos, Cohen, Ortiz, Mulcahy, Doan, Candelas, Foley, and Casey,
We write to express our strong support for Agenda Item 7.2: the proposed temporary moratorium on tobacco retailer licenses.
The Prevention Policy Group is a program of the Public Health Institute, a nonprofit 501c3 which has served California for 61 years. Two of our key areas of work are tobacco and cannabis/hemp policy. We currently manage the tracking of local tobacco policy for the state of California and also provide technical assistance to Santa Clara County on cannabis and hemp policy.
This temporary pause is a prudent and necessary step to allow the City to evaluate the long- term impacts of tobacco retail proliferation, both licensed and unlicensed and compliance of existing retailers. This proposed moratorium reflects a thoughtful approach to protecting public health and health equity, preserving the safety of the community, and ensuring that future decisions regarding tobacco retail are made with full consideration of community values and priorities.
Cities across California are beginning to examine new strategies for reducing, not increasing tobacco retailers. Three cities have now completely prohibited tobacco retailing. Other cities are assuring gradual attrition of the number of tobacco retailers. Not allowing further growth of sales, both through temporary moratoria and permanent measures, of what has long been the largest cause of preventable death and illness is a modest and reasonable first step.
Furthermore, as the staff report clearly notes, licensed and unlicensed shops are frequently found in non-compliance with existing law, whether selling flavored tobacco, illegal intoxicating hemp products not considered cannabis, cannabis itself, kratom, or other illicit products. These problems must be addressed.
We strongly urge the city to examine ways to: 1) substantially reduce, rather than augment the number of licensed tobacco retailers, 2) to assure that TRL fees are sufficient to cover the full cost of licensing, regular inspection of all retailers and other enforcement, so the city is not completely dependent upon DOJ grants, 3) to close unlicensed operators and enforce other existing law, and 4) to strengthen your tobacco retail licensing ordinance to assure that sale of other illegal non-tobacco products including, but not limited, to intoxicating hemp, cannabis, kratom, as well as nitrous oxide constitute violations of your tobacco licensing ordinance.