San Francisco actively implementing its comprehensive ban on sale of flavored tobacco products

The tobacco companies have been going around the state telling people that San Francisco is not enforcing its comprehensive ban on the prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health has proven them wrong.  The Department just updated its website with details on the implementation plan, including, sending a mailer (below) to every retailer in the City telling them that the law is in effect and that they should stop ordering flavored products. 

Here is the schedule that the City has announced:

July 20, 2018                       Ban effective date

Sep 2018                              Outreach and Education On-Site-Visits Begin

Oct 2018                               Compliance Inspections Begin

Jan 2019                               Enforcement  Begins After Rules and Regulations are Adopted.

The Department is beginning with outreach to the tobacco retailers educating them on the flavored tobacco products ban, collecting questions they may have concerning flavored tobacco products and answering them. 

Compliance inspections are the first step of any enforcement action, where the Department will issue a notice of correction if they see that a retailer is not complying with the ordinance.  If they continue to disobey the ordinance, the Department will continue with enforcement up to and including  issuance of an abatement order, administrative penalties, permit suspensions, re-inspections fees, and/or referrals to the City Attorney in order to take legal action.

All this is spelled out on the Department's web page on the law, which is available here.  The poster below that is being distributed to retailers is available here.