The San Jose City Council has enacted a temporary moratorium blocking the establishment of new tobacco shops throughout the city as officials draw up a long-term plan to regulate such businesses.
Councilmembers voted unanimously Tuesday to halt the issuance of new licenses for local tobacco businesses, including retailers, smoke shops and smoking lounges. The 45-day ban can be extended for up to two years, according to a city memo. It’s a response to complaints that some local shops have become avenues for the illicit sale of controlled substances, including to minors.
Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who introduced the moratorium, said these problems have taken a disproportionate toll on his own District 5, which encompasses the predominantly Latino neighborhoods of East San Jose. The district includes an especially high concentration of smoke shops — nearly seven per square mile, according to a countywide assessment conducted earlier this year. That’s twice as high as the rest of Santa Clara County.
“In too many cases, students can walk past two to three smoke shops on their way home from class,” Ortiz said at the meeting. “When harmful products are sold without oversight, it’s these same communities already facing historic disinvestment that bear the highest consequences.”
The temporary licensing pause gives the city time to review existing tobacco regulations and consider how they might be strengthened to end illegal sales and unpermitted operations, according to city officials. The updated rules could increase fines for infractions. In addition, they might also introduce density controls to limit how many smoke shops are permitted in a single city district.
Other elected leaders echoed Ortiz’s call for urgent action, including Mayor Matt Mahan, who said boosting the city’s enforcement efforts will also be key to reigning in bad actors.
“At the end of the day, unless we ensure consistent application of the rules and actual consequences … it’s very hard to change behavior,” Mahan said.
A group of councilmembers — including Ortiz, Domingo Candelas, Pamela Campos, George Casey and David Cohen — first proposed the moratorium in May. In making their case for the measure, they warned the city has seen a rise in the number of complaints about unlicensed tobacco businesses in recent years.
Santa Clara County officials support San Jose’s latest effort to clamp down on tobacco products. In a letter sent to councilmembers, County Executive James Williams applauded the moratorium and urged city officials to consider even stricter regulations.
“While the City’s current tobacco policies provide protections in certain settings, important gaps persist that put residents at risk,” Williams wrote.
San Jose has been tightening regulations on tobacco retailers for years. In 2022, the city banned the sale of flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes to discourage their use by young people. Last year officials introduced a permitting system intended to more closely monitor shops for the sale of illicit drugs.
The city has tracked rising incidents of illegal sales from local storefronts of prohibited items, like flavored tobacco, synthetic cannabis products and nitrous oxide used for recreational consumption, often referred to as “whippets.”
Of the 101 businesses that have sparked complaints from residents related to such illicit sales, 30 were operating without a tobacco retail license, Deputy Code Enforcement Director Rachel Roberts told councilmembers.
Councilmembers also voted unanimously Tuesday to join other jurisdictions in banning the sale of nitrous oxide products marketed for recreational use. Supporters of the ban point to the negative health risks of the inhalable narcotic and warn that the disposable canisters used to distribute nitrous oxide gas are often left on the ground, contributing to the city’s litter problem.
It’s illegal to sell nitrous oxide for recreational use in California. However, because the substance has legitimate uses as well, including for medical and dental treatments, products that contain the gas exist in a legal gray area that critics say offers opportunities for widespread abuse.
Story updated Nov. 4 at 6:09 p.m. Original story published Nov. 1 at 8:30 a.m.
Contact Keith Menconi at [email protected] or @KeithMenconi on X.
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