Garden Grove Municipal Code Ch. 6.44 Regulation of the Sale of Tobacco Products

The following words and phrases, whenever used in this chapter, shall be construed as defined in this section:

"Characterizing flavor"

means a distinguishable taste or aroma, or both, other than the taste or aroma of tobacco, imparted by a tobacco product or any byproduct produced by the tobacco product. Characterizing flavors include, but are not limited to, tastes or aromas relating to any fruit, vanilla, chocolate, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, menthol, mint, wintergreen, herb, or spice. A tobacco product shall not be determined to have a characterizing flavor solely because of the use of additives or flavorings or the provision of ingredient information. Rather, it is the presence of a distinguishable taste or aroma, or both, as described in the first sentence of this definition, that constitutes a characterizing flavor.

"Constituent"

means any ingredient, substance, chemical, or compound, other than tobacco, water, or reconstituted tobacco sheet, that is added by the manufacturer to a tobacco product during the processing, manufacture, or packing of the tobacco product.

"Employee"

means any person who is employed by any employer in consideration for direct or indirect wages or profit, and any person who volunteers his or her services for a nonprofit entity.

"Flavored tobacco product"

means any tobacco product that contains a constituent that imparts a characterizing flavor.

"Hookah tobacco retailer"

means a tobacco retailer that is engaged in the retail sale of shisha tobacco products, hookah, and hookah smoking accessories.

"Hookah"

means a type of waterpipe, used to smoke shisha or other tobacco products, with a long flexible tube for drawing aerosol through water, Components of a hookah may include heads, stems, bowls, and hoses.

"Minor"

means any person under the age of 18 years.

"Nonprofit entity"

means any corporation, unincorporated association, or other entity created for charitable, philanthropic, education character-building, political, social, or other similar purpose, the net proceeds from the operations of which are committed to the promotion of the objectives or purposes of the entity and not to private gain. A public agency is not a "nonprofit entity" within the meaning of this section.

"Self-service display"

means any open display of tobacco products and point-of-sale tobacco-related promotional products that the public has access to without the intervention of an employee.

"Shisha tobacco product"

means a tobacco product smoked or intended to be smoked in a hookah. "Shisha tobacco product" includes, and may be referred to as, hookah tobacco, waterpipe tobacco, maassel, narghile, and argileh. "Shisha tobacco product" does not include any electronic devices, such as an electronic hookah, electronic cigarette, or electronic tobacco product.

"Tobacco product flavor enhancer"

means a product designed, manufactured, produced, marketed, or sold to produce a characterizing flavor when added to a tobacco product.

"Tobacco product"

means a tobacco product as defined in Section 104495 of the California Health and Safety Code, as that provision may be amended from time to time, including, but not limited to, the following:

A product containing, made, or derived from tobacco or nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, or snuff.

An electronic device that delivers nicotine or other vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, cigar, pipe, or hookah.

Any component, part, or accessory of a tobacco product, whether or not sold separately.

"Tobacco retailer"

means any person or governmental entity that operates a store, stand, booth, vending machine, concession, or other place at which sales of tobacco products are made to purchasers for consumption or use.

"Vendor-assisted"

means that only a store employee has access to the tobacco product and assists a customer by supplying the tobacco product, and the customer does not take possession of the tobacco product until it is purchased.

(2535 § 1, 2000; 2803 § 1, 2011; 2945, 11/14/2023)

A. No person, business, tobacco retailer, or owner, manager, or employee of a business or tobacco retailer shall be engaged in the sale of tobacco products without first posting a plainly visible sign at the point of purchase of tobacco products that complies with all requirements established by the State Department of Public Health pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 22952 of the California Business and Professions Code.

B. No person, business, tobacco, retailer or owner, manager, or employee of any business or tobacco retailer shall sell, offer to sell or permit to be sold, any tobacco product to any purchaser who appears to be under 21 years of age, without first verifying by means of photographic identification containing the bearer's date of birth, that the purchaser is not under 21 years of age, unless the seller has some other reasonable and reliable basis for determining the purchaser's age.

C. No person, business, tobacco retailer, or owner, manager, or employee of any business or tobacco retailer shall sell, offer to sell, or permit to be sold, any tobacco product not in the original packaging provided by the manufacturer and with all required health warnings.

D. No person, business or tobacco retailer or owner, manager, or employee of any business or tobacco retailer shall sell, offer for sale, display for sale, or permit to be sold, offered for sale, or displayed for sale, any tobacco product by means of self-service display, vending machine, or by any means other than vendor-assisted sales.

E. No person, business or tobacco retailer or owner, manager, or employee of any business or tobacco retailer shall sell, offer for sale, display for sale, or permit to be sold, offered for sale, or displayed for sale, any flavored tobacco product or tobacco product flavor enhancer. There is a rebuttable presumption that a tobacco product is a flavored tobacco product if a manufacturer or any of the manufacturer's agents or employees, in the course of their agency or employment, has made a statement or claim directed to consumers or to the public that the tobacco product has or produces a characterizing flavor, including, but not limited to, text, color, and/or images on the product's labeling or packaging that are used to explicitly or implicitly communicate that the tobacco product has characterizing flavor.

(2535 § 1, 2000; 2803 § 1, 2011; 2945, 11/14/2023)

A. Section 6.44.020(A), (B), (C) and (D) shall not apply to any establishment where access to the premises by persons under 21 years of age is prohibited by law.

B. Section 6.44.020(E) shall not apply to loose leaf tobacco or premium cigars, as defined in Section 104495.5 of the California Health and Safety Code.

C. Section 6.44.020(E) shall not apply to the sale of flavored shisha tobacco products by a lawfully established and duly licensed hookah tobacco retailer, provided the hookah tobacco retailer does not permit any person under 21 years of age to be present or enter the premises at any time and operates in compliance with all applicable state and local laws.

(2535 § 1, 2000; 2803 § 1, 2011; 2945, 11/14/2023)