OAKLAND — Oakland has become the latest city to take a stand against Big Tobacco, banning the sale of menthol cigarettes and blunt wraps citywide.
The City Council voted unanimously around midnight Wednesday to prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco after hearing from about 90 public speakers, some who warned the tobacco industry has historically targeted menthol cigarette advertisements to African-American neighborhoods.
After taking on Big Soda in a successful soda tax measure passed in November, Vice Mayor Annie Campbell Washington and Council President Larry Reid turned their focus to tobacco. Reid and Campbell Washington, who co-sponsored the ban, have said diseases related to smoking account for the majority of deaths in Oakland, higher than homicides, suicides and traumatic injuries combined.
It follows similar bans approved in San Francisco on June 20 and in unincorporated Contra Costa County on July 12. A group representing tobacco manufacturers, vaping groups and a grocer association is collecting signatures to put a referendum measure on the ballot to reverse the ban in San Francisco.
The Oakland law, which needs a second approval in September, would go into effect in 2018.
“Flavored tobacco products — including menthol cigarettes and candy — are a key part of the industry’s strategy to bait youth, particularly youth of color, into becoming tomorrow’s addicted users. The American Heart Association strongly supports the Oakland City Council’s decision to protect our community’s health and well-being from these profit-driven practices,” Dr. Alden McDonald III, president of the board for the Greater Bay Area Division of the American Heart Association, said in a statement.
