Santa Maria Municipal Code Ch. 5-9 Condom Warning Signs

The City Council finds and declares that latex condoms labeled for disease prevention can prevent the passage of the AIDS, hepatitis and herpes viruses but natural or lambskin condoms may not do this. In order to serve the public health, safety and welfare, the declared purpose of this chapter is to educate the public by requiring that warning signs be placed at all locations where condoms are sold to the public.

(Ord. 91-26 § 1, eff. 12/5/91)

Any person or entity who owns, operates, manages, leases or rents a premises or vending machine offering condoms for sale, or dispensing condoms for consideration, to the public, shall cause a sign or notice to be posted on the premises both in English and Spanish as provided in this section. The sign or notice shall read:

The sign or notice as required in this section shall not be smaller than eight and one-half inches by eleven inches. The words "WARNING" and "AVISO" shall not be less than one-half inch in height and shall be centered on a single line with no other text nor shall any other lettering thereon be less than one-quarter inch in height, except as provided in Section 5-9.03. The sentence "FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 1-800-922-2437" shall be a separate paragraph centered immediately following the last sentence of the English warning and the sentence "PARA MAS INFORMACION LLAME AL 1-800-222-2437" shall be a separate paragraph centered immediately following the last sentence of the Spanish warning.

(Ord. 91-26 § 1, eff. 12/5/91; Ord. 2002-05, eff. 7/18/02)

The required sign or notice shall be placed as follows:

(a) Where the sale or dispensing of condoms to the public occurs other than through the use of a vending machine, at least one sign shall be placed to assure it is readable by the public where the condoms are displayed or stored for public sale.

(b) Where the sale or dispensing of condoms to the public occurs through the use of a vending machine, the sign or notice and the lettering thereon is not subject to the minimum width, height or length requirements of Section 5-9.02 except at least one sign or notice shall be attached or affixed to the front of a vending machine to assure that it is readable by a person who is physically close enough to the vending machine to actually operate it.

(Ord. 91-26 § 1, eff. 12/5/91)

Anyone subject to the provisions of Section 5-9.02 who knowingly fails to post the required warning is guilty of an infraction.

(Ord. 91-26 § 1, eff. 12/5/91)