Originally published 2019-06-30.
Beverly Hills became the first city in the United States to end the sale of nearly all tobacco products in ordinary shops. The City Council voted 5-0 on 4 June 2019 to stop gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores and pharmacies from selling cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products. The rule was originally due to start on 1 January 2021 and, after the council finalised the law in June 2021, took effect on 1 January 2022. Cigar lounges and hotels were allowed to keep selling to their guests.
The measure does not make smoking or owning tobacco illegal. It is a sales restriction: adults can still smoke where local smoking laws allow, and they can still buy tobacco outside city limits. That distinction explains both why supporters called it a landmark and why critics doubted it would change much.
What the ordinance covers, and what it leaves out
According to reports on the ordinance at the time, the ban applies to a broad list of products:
- cigarettes and cigars;
- pipe and chewing tobacco, and dissolvable tobacco products;
- electronic cigarettes and vaping devices;
- water pipes (hookahs) and related tobacco.
The exemptions were deliberate. Beverly Hills has a handful of upscale cigar lounges and luxury hotels that serve wealthy visitors, and the council chose to let them continue selling to their own customers. The city also said it would review the effect on tourism after three years. About two dozen local businesses that sold tobacco were affected. Flavoured tobacco had already been banned in the city before the broader rule came in.
Why the council acted
The ordinance itself argues that selling tobacco "increases access to these harmful and dangerous products" and clashes with the city's image as a healthy place. Council Member Lili Bosse, one of its main champions, called the vote "truly a landmark moment for our city," and predicted other cities would follow.
The public health case behind it is well established. The American Cancer Society estimates that cigarette smoking kills about 480,000 people in the United States every year. Smoking causes around 30% of all US cancer deaths and about 80% of lung cancer deaths, and people who smoke die on average about ten years earlier than people who never did. Beyond cancer, it drives heart attacks, strokes and chronic lung disease such as COPD. Reducing how easy it is to buy tobacco, especially on impulse alongside snacks and fuel, is one of the tools health officials use to cut the number of people who start or relapse.
The objections from retailers
Store owners and tobacco sellers pushed back hard. The National Association of Tobacco Outlets said that cigarettes and other tobacco products account for a large share of in-store sales at convenience stores, and warned that local sellers could see monthly income fall by 25% to 45%. Its executive director, Thomas Briant, argued that the rule would push shops to cut staff or close.
Critics also made a practical point. Beverly Hills is a small city of about 32,000 residents, surrounded by Los Angeles and West Hollywood. Smokers can drive a few minutes across the border to buy cigarettes, and while there they may also fill up their tanks and buy drinks and snacks, taking that business with them. On this view, the ban would hurt local shops without reducing smoking much.
How a local sales ban fits into tobacco control
Public health researchers generally see measures like this as one layer among many, not a standalone fix. The approaches with the strongest evidence for reducing smoking include higher tobacco taxes, smoke-free laws in workplaces and public spaces, bans on advertising, graphic warnings, and accessible help for people who want to quit. Restrictions on where tobacco can be sold, how many retailers a neighbourhood can have, and who may buy it are newer tools whose effects are still being studied.
The Beverly Hills experiment is therefore most useful as a test case. Because it covers one small, affluent city, it cannot by itself show how a sales ban would work across a whole region. Its value lies in showing that a local government could legally take this step, and in how other places watched the result. Neighbouring Manhattan Beach was already discussing a similar measure when Beverly Hills voted, and California later moved on flavoured tobacco at state level.
Similar ideas around the world
Other governments have explored even more ambitious ways to phase tobacco out. New Zealand passed a "smokefree generation" law in 2022 that would have banned sales to anyone born after a certain date, before a new government repealed it in 2024. The United Kingdom has debated a similar generational approach. Compared with these national plans, the Beverly Hills ordinance is narrow, but it was one of the first concrete steps from talking about a tobacco-free future to restricting retail sales outright.
What it means for residents
For people living in or visiting Beverly Hills, the practical change is simple: tobacco and e-cigarettes are no longer on the shelf at the corner shop or the pharmacy. Adults who smoke can still do so where the law allows and can buy products elsewhere. For anyone thinking about quitting, the change may simply remove one daily temptation. Free support is available in the US through the national quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW, and a doctor or pharmacist can explain which nicotine replacement or other treatments might suit you.
Sources: CNBC: Beverly Hills council approves sweeping ban on most tobacco sales (June 2019); Tobacco Asia: Beverly Hills first to implement tobacco sales ban (July 2019); Wikipedia: Beverly Hills, California; American Cancer Society: Health risks of smoking tobacco; Thomas Briant's comments as reported by CBS News; original story tip: Truth Theory. Photo: grazvydas (123RF).
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