Strengthening Newark’s Tobacco Retail Licensing Ordinance
Encouraged by concerned parents and staff from Newark Middle School’s Parent Teacher Student Association (NMS PTSA), Newark’s City Council recently took a major step forward in the fight against tobacco-related illnesses by adopting a Tobacco Retail Licensing (TRL) ordinance in fall 2024. Some of the highlights from the newly adopted ordinance include: ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products, requiring minimum prices and pack sizes for cigar products, and stopping new tobacco retailers from locating near youth-sensitive areas like schools and parks as well as near other existing tobacco retailers.
While NMS PTSA applauds the passing of this strong ordinance, we believe more can be done to further strengthen it, such as ending the sale of all electronic smoking devices (vapes); limiting the total number of licenses allowed in the city, which is already higher per capita than in Fremont or Union City; and not allowing the transfer of tobacco retail licenses in order to incrementally disperse retailers away from youth-populated spaces.
Ultimately, the city of Newark’s adoption of the TRL ordinance is a win for our youths’ health and well-being. However, tobacco smoking or vaping is a tough addiction to quit. The vast majority of adults who use tobacco report starting as youths, and four out of five youth smokers indicate that they began smoking with a flavored tobacco product. It is our hope that the City of Newark will continue to add to the TRL and further strengthen the ordinance to limit accessibility of all tobacco products—including all vapes—and prevent our youth from ever getting hooked.
President Cara Kundrat
Newark Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association President
