San Francisco Considers Banning Tobacco Sales to Those Under 21

Supervisors Scott Wiener, Eric Mar and Malia Cohen plan to introduce legislation Tuesday that would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.

The American Heart Association, which supports the legislation, says nearly 95 percent of smokers take up the habit before they're 21.

Wiener says the hope is that making it more difficult for young people to access cigarettes will cut down on the overall number of smokers. It could also curb tobacco-related illnesses and the rates of low-birth-weight babies born to young mothers who smoke. He says smoking is bad for San Franciscans' health, but there's more than just a human cost.

"Tobacco-related illnesses have a nearly $400 million annual impact on San Francisco in terms of health costs and the other costs that occur when people are sick and unable to work," Wiener said.

If the proposal passes, San Francisco would become the latest in a growing list of jurisdictions to raise the minimum age for tobacco purchases. New York City adopted a similar law in 2013, and the state of Hawaii followed suit earlier this year.

Closer to home, the Sonoma County town of Healdsburg last year banned all tobacco and e-cigarette sales to those under 21. The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors adopted an under-21 sales ban for unincorporated areas of the county in June. Berkeley is working on an ordinance to do the same thing.

California proposed statewide legislation earlier this year as well, but SB151 failed to make it through the Assembly. Wiener says sometimes this happens -- local changes are often needed before legislation can garner statewide approval.

"If San Francisco passes this ordinance, and if Berkeley passes the ordinance, and if we can get other local jurisdictions to follow suit, we will create more political space for our Legislature to take action," he said. "More pressure for the Legislature to take action."

Some of San Francisco's earlier efforts to limit tobacco sales have run into strong opposition from the industry. A 2008 ordinance that banned tobacco sales in the city's drugstores prompted a lawsuit from Philip Morris USA, which argued the law interfered with its right to communicate with adult smokers. The law was upheld in federal court.