Mill Valley Bans Nicotine Sales With No Exemptions

Mill Valley is Marin’s second municipality to completely ban retail sales of nicotine products and electronic smoking devices with no exemptions.

“This is a huge moment for not just Mill Valley, but also for Corte Madera that’s joined us in this action,” Mayor Max Perrey said Monday. “Hopefully, other cities and the county will follow suit as well, so we can prioritize public health and prioritize our kids.”

“I do believe this is an ordinance that advances our commitment to protecting young people, reducing nicotine addiction and then addressing environmental impacts of the tobacco product waste,” Vice Mayor Caroline Joachim said.

The City Council unanimously passed the measure on second reading.

“The ordinance replaces the city’s existing tobacco retailer licensing program with a prohibition on both in-person and delivery sales of commercial tobacco products and electronic smoking devices,” said Kelsey Rogers, city deputy administration director. “It does not prohibit the lawful possession or use of tobacco products by individuals and it does not prohibit the sale of FDA-authorized nicotine cessation products.”

The ordinance will take effect on Feb. 1, 2027, the same day as Corte Madera’s similar complete-end-of-sales ordinance.

“This provides a transition period for the city’s five affected retailers,” Rogers said.

Mill Valley’s action is the latest in a series of increasingly tough bans adopted by Marin County and Marin municipalities to curb youth consumption of the latest nicotine products.

“Since adopting its first ordinance regulating smoking in public places in 1992, the City has continued to strengthen local protections,” a staff report said. “This action comes at a time when 17% of 11th graders in Marin report the use of vaping, compared with 10% statewide, according to Marin County Public Health.”

Last fall, Tiburon and Ross were the nation’s third and fourth jurisdictions to prohibit retail sale of any nicotine product following Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach.

In November, the county Board of Supervisors prohibited e-cigarette sales, established minimum prices on all other products, and banned coupons and discounts.

The supervisors also prevented the introduction of heated tobacco products, the country’s first jurisdiction to do so. Several central Marin towns went further.

In February, Fairfax restricted the sale of nicotine pouches and tobacco powder pouches, another national first. In May, Sausalito adopted the county’s ban.

In September, Corte Madera adopted the nation’s first complete-end-of-sales ordinance with no exemptions. Mill Valley passed the same ordinance.

The city’s action came after little debate and was praised by public health advocates as a step that will resonate far beyond Marin.

“This is really the strongest action ever in the history of America,” said Dr. John Maa, San Francisco Marin Medical Society past president and surgeon. “These are difficult times.”

“The largest corporate donor to the Trump administration is Big Tobacco,” he said. “That’s why a tobacco industry lobbyist is the chief of staff. That is why every person in the Office of Smoking and Health at the CDC and the FDA were terminated.”

“The action you’re taking tonight will be a landmark move,” Jeremiah Mock, a Corte Madera resident and University of California tobacco researcher said. “I can assure you that these retailers will make the transition. I have studied all 23 small business retailers in Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach.”

“I really wanted to come tonight to just say thank you because it takes a lot of courage,” said Holli Thier, Tiburon council member and former mayor. “It’s easier not to take on these hard fights. But we know that with this work and what you’re doing tonight is saving lives.”

“Our youth – they vape at twice the average in the state of California,” she said. “My daughter could not go to the bathroom at Redwood (High School) because it was full of people vaping and she could not get a stall.”

Bryan Lam, representing the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance, a trade association, was the only public speaker opposing the ordinance.

“I’m here tonight to respectfully urge the council to reconsider adopting the proposed tobacco prohibition,” he said. “We share the council’s goal of keeping tobacco out of the hands of our youth. However, product bans are counterproductive. They don’t eliminate demand. They simply shift where consumers purchase these products.”

“If the council decides to move forward with the ban, we respectfully ask that, in the interest of evidence-based policymaking, it include a one-year sunset date from the date of implementation,” he said. “That would allow the council to conduct a meaningful review of the ban’s impacts and determine whether it is achieving the outcomes that the council intends.”

The council did not discuss Lam’s request. It unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance on Sept. 21 after a lengthy public hearing. It unanimously granted final approval with little discussion.