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Riverside County OKs $350 Tobacco Retailing Fee

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Times Staff Writer

In a move intended to combat teen smoking, Riverside County imposed a $350 annual licensing fee on tobacco retailers Tuesday to beef up efforts to stop illegal sales to minors.

More than 40% of Riverside County teenagers who tried to buy tobacco products during state-sponsored sting operations succeeded -- one of the highest rates in the state, according to the county’s Department of Public Health.

Lauded by anti-smoking groups, the Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the ordinance, which requires the county’s roughly 2,500 tobacco retailers to obtain the licenses.

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The money will pay for 10 new public health positions. The employees will visit retailers to check for valid licenses and to see that tobacco displays are out of customers’ reach. They will also coordinate sting operations with the Sheriff’s Department and train youths to try to buy tobacco from merchants.

The ordinance calls for penalties against the merchants for failure to get a license and adds county sanctions for sales to minors to the state penalties already on the books. The county consequences include fines of up to $10,000, license suspensions and revocations.

The ordinance is similar to regulations passed in cities and counties elsewhere in the state to fight underage smoking. It is against state law to sell tobacco to anyone under 18.

About a dozen impassioned anti-smoking activists, health officials, teenagers and former smokers testified during Tuesday’s public hearing on the ordinance.

Norco High School graduate Heather Arrington recounted how she was “shocked at how easy it was to buy cigarettes” in Corona, which she tried as part of an American Cancer Society survey. Other supporters and board members described the deaths of loved ones from lung cancer, or recounted personal struggles with smoking-related illness.

“There’s no action you could take that would save more lives in the long run than the action you are taking today,” said Dr. Gary Feldman, director of the county’s Community Health Agency.

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Representatives from grocers trade groups have criticized the ordinance as unfair to law-abiding merchants, but Supervisor Roy Wilson on Tuesday called for enforcement efforts that go beyond creating the public health posts.

The board also adopted an ordinance stiffening penalties against illegal street racing. Under the new ordinance, spectators at illegal drag races could face up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine.

“It’s a major problem,” Lt. Rick Meier, with the California Highway Patrol in Riverside, said of local racing exhibitions.

Hundreds of people from across the Southland gather for racing “sideshows,” which can result in property damage and sometimes include shootings and drug use, Meier said.

Both county ordinances adopted by the supervisors Tuesday take effect in 30 days.

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