Cigarette Sales Banned on Campus

Published on February 2, 2010 9:25 AM

The recent project which intends to reduce cigarette vendors in San Francisco would prohibit the tobacco products sales and smoking within 1,000 feet of schools, where more than half The City’s sellers at present work.

Officials want a ban on new tobacco permits for vendors who want to open shop near high schools.

For example the 1,008 shops currently sell tobacco products in The City, and 617 of such stores work within the proposed 1,000-foot prohibition zone.

The new legislation would not invalidate tobacco permits for those retailers. But when the permits would expire, then they could not be re-established when the proprietor sells the business. Permits only would stay valid if owners transfer them to next family members.

The new plan would gradually remove tobacco sales near schools. Researchers explained that reducing sales would help keep cigarettes out of children’s hands and eyes.
They showed that almost all students start smoking and smoke more frequently when cigarette retailers sell their smoking products near schools.

That proposal, which was recently listed by local anti-tobacco advocates, should gain political traction yet, which would reduce by more than two-thirds the number of stores at present selling tobacco products citywide.

The banning tobacco sales near schools are supported by officials, students, and teachers and even by Janet Clyde, a commissioner in the Office of Small Business. However, restricting owners from transferring existing permits to anyone but family members would be unfair, she added.

The merit of a business declines when it can no longer sell tobacco product. Clyde said: "There’s an economic influence to that. The easiest and most appropriate thing to do is to not allow any new tobacco permits." Statistics show that: 15.4 Percent of high school students who smoke cigarettes in California; 33 Percent of tobacco sales to minors that took place within 100 feet of a school.