Salinas City Council shows it is willing to take a serious stand against smoking.

How old were you when you first tried a cigarette? I’m willing to bet for many of you, it was before the legal age limit. (In California, that’s age 21.) 

Sara Rubin here with the reality check that despite age limits and restrictions, young people still consume tobacco products. This is something that local prosecutors do monitor and have cracked down on, but it’s still a problem. It’s especially problematic because tobacco products are incredibly addictive and incredibly harmful, still the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. You don’t need me to tell you that—these facts are now widely understood. 

Despite all of that, tobacco products remain quite ubiquitous and easy to access. Many local jurisdictions have taken steps to rein in tobacco sales. Salinas City Council took it a step further on June 30, when they voted 7-0 to adopt a 45-day moratorium on new retail licenses for tobacco sellers. 

Tomorrow, Aug. 4, the council is set to vote on whether to extend that moratorium for 10 more months. Based on their action in June, there’s little reason to doubt they will. (The short-term urgency ordinance took effect immediately; this extension to June 29, 2027 would give city staff time to craft a more lasting policy.) 

Since 2015, Salinas has required tobacco sellers to obtain a tobacco retailer’s license, but that did not come with a cap. As of June, there were 125 tobacco retailers in the city of about 150,000 people. 

How many is the right number? That’s hard to know—you might argue zero, but consumers do have a right to access even dangerous products—but this line-in-the-sand approach sends a strong signal that there is a threshold that is too much. 

“The prevalence of tobacco retail establishments in Salinas may contribute to various adverse effects because of the associated health risks and density to walkable areas where minors frequent,” according to a draft resolution the council may adopt tomorrow.

Also tomorrow night, council is set to vote on an appeal from a cannabis dispensary that wants to relocate from its since-closed Salinas Municipal Airport location to Northridge Plaza Shopping Center (across the street from Northridge Mall). Valley Farms acquired Emerald Skyway based on the belief they could stay put—but the original, existing site on Moffett Street is no longer compliant with city code after eliminating manufacturing (it’s in an industrial park).

That means the company has been searching for a new home since 2022. But in April, a selection committee denied the request to move to Northridge. The company appealed to the Planning Commission, which also denied the request in June. That brings us to another appeal, this time to City Council. 

Senior Planner Thomas Wiles recommends that council also deny the request, for good reasons: it would violate the city’s 1,000-foot buffer zone requirements from an elementary school, alcohol sellers, a residential property and to a smoke shop.

Compared to hundreds of tobacco vendors, far more than is enough, one longtime cannabis vendor is just trying to find a place to keep their doors open. It seems reasonable to say no to tobacco, a known killer, and yes to a single dispensary.