Beverly Hills moves one step closer to becoming first city in US to ban sale of tobacco products

close

Video

Dangers from cigarettes cause a mainstream shift in smoking culture

Nicotine is one of the top five most addictive substances; Kristin Fisher reports.

Beverly Hills moved one step closer Tuesday evening to becoming the first city in the nation to ban the sale of all tobacco and nicotine products after the city council voted unanimously in the first of two votes required to enact the ban.

While it is already illegal to smoke almost anywhere in Beverly Hills – including on sidewalks, at the farmers market and inside apartments and condos – the new law would ban the sale of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products at all retail locations within the tony Southern California city, including gas stations, convenience stores, pharmacies and newsstands. A final vote on the ban will take place in early June.

The ban would exempt three high-end cigar lounges within the city after a group of aficionados – including former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – wrote letters of protest and flooded the city council meeting Tuesday night.

E-CIGARETTE USE EXPOSES TEENAGERS TO TOXIC CHEMICALS, NEW STUDY SAYS

“The Grand Havana Room, which I have been a member of since its inception, provides a treasured home away from home,” Schwarzenegger wrote in a letter in support of one of the lounges, according to the Los Angeles Times. “It is unthinkable that the city might adopt a policy that would intentionally or unintentionally cause the closure of this character-defining institution.”

Schwarzenegger added that while he supported the ban on the sale of tobacco products, he said there is a “fundamental difference" between cigar clubs and a gas station selling nicotine pods for e-cigarettes.

Video

Beverly Hills' ordinance comes as tobacco and vaping products have come into the crosshairs of numerous state governments as well as Congress -- with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introducing legislation on Monday that would raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.

The legislation, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., comes as the use of e-cigarettes and vaping products has skyrocketed among minors across the country. While e-cigarettes -- like the popular Juul -- do not contain tobacco, they do have the addictive substance nicotine and are marketed in a variety of flavors that critics say are meant to appeal to young people.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Video

“We’re in the middle of a national health epidemic,” McConnell said during a speech on the Senate floor. “Youth vaping is a public health crisis.”

Currently, 14 states and the District of Columbia have made 21 the legal age to buy tobacco products, with eight states this year passing their own legislation.