Tamara Barak Aparton, The Examiner
2008-03-21 11:00:00.0
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San Mateo County -

More merchants could see their right to sell tobacco go up in smoke if county officials vote to strengthen penalties for those caught selling cigarettes to minors.

San Mateo County supervisors will vote Tuesday to amend a code to impose a minimum 30-day tobacco sellers license suspension for businesses caught selling tobacco to minors twice in two years. The suspension will be raised to a minimum 90 days for third-time offenders. Violators who wrack up three or more infractions in two years could lose their licenses for up to 12 months.

The ordinance would affect unincorporated areas of the county as well as the cities of San Mateo, Millbrae, San Carlos, Colma, Redwood City, Daly City and East Palo Alto. The seven cities and the county have adopted similar tobacco policies and have recently conducted sting operations through local law enforcement but city officials have said it has become too expensive without help.

Currently, license suspension is at the discretion of the county Health Department, which enforces penalties against merchants. Of the 13 hearings held last year, only one 30-day suspension was enforced, though all were first-time offenders, said Dean Peterson, director of environmental health for the county.

Supervisors Jerry Hill and Rich Gordon are sponsoring the measure. Hill said the more stringent requirements are meant to halt smoking at adolescence in order to prevent a future health crisis.

“An adolescent thinks it’s cool or sees it modeled in the movies and picks up cigarettes for the first time. It’s our goal to keep that cigarette out of their mouth,” Hill said.

According to the 2004-06 California Healthy Kids survey, 18 percent of San Mateo County 11th graders reported using tobacco the previous month — significantly higher than the 14 percent statewide.

While the ordinance has the support of anti-smoking advocates, merchants aren’t so sure it’s a good idea.

Karl, who did not want his last name published, is the owner of Emerald City Liquors in Redwood City. On Thursday, he said the measure goes too far.

“A lot of merchants lack English and understanding. I don’t think they do it because they want to make money out of kids — not understanding good just makes them sell to them without knowing it,” he said.

Losing the right to sell cigarettes could also make liquor stores lose thousands of dollars in revenue.

“People who smoke cigarettes drink beer. The merchants will lose the traffic through their store and people won’t buy other things,” he said.

tbarak@examiner.com