Berkeley May Ban Flavored Cigarettes Sales Near Schools

By Doug Oakley
Bay Area News Group
doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com

Berkeley is considering a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars and flavored roll-your-own tobacco within 500 feet of any school because of their potential for being more appealing to teenagers who are thinking about smoking. 

The City Council on Feb. 25 approved a referral to the city manager, who will return with a regulation for consideration in the near future. 

According to a City Council report, flavored smoking tobacco products "have been designed by tobacco manufacturers to make their products less harsh, and as a result, more appealing to young smokers." 

"We protect our children from drugs, guns and alcohol, why wouldn't we protect them against tobacco, which kills more people than the other three combined?" the idea's proponent, City Councilman Darryl Moore, said in a prepared statement. 

Reach Doug Oakley at 510-843-1408. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/douglasoakley