Contra Costa County, CA Tobacco & Vaping: Flavored Tobacco Bans (2026)

Section 445-6.006 flatly bars a tobacco retailer from selling, offering to sell, or exchanging any flavored tobacco product or menthol cigarette for any form of consideration. Section 445-2.006(h) defines 'flavored tobacco product' as any tobacco product other than a federally defined cigarette that contains a constituent imparting a 'characterizing flavor,' a taste or aroma other than tobacco's own, including fruit, chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, dessert, alcoholic beverage, menthol, mint, wintergreen, herb, or spice; packaging or labeling that advertises such a flavor is presumed to make the product flavored. 'Menthol cigarette' is separately defined to cover cigarettes with a menthol, mint, or wintergreen characterizing flavor. The ban applies to every tobacco product category the ordinance covers, including little cigars, cigars, and the electronic smoking devices and e-liquids reached by Section 445-6.014.

The flavor ban sits alongside the county's other point-of-sale rules: Section 445-6.002 bans self-service displays and requires tobacco kept in a locked case, Section 445-6.010 sets a ten-count minimum package for little cigars and cigars under five dollars each, and Section 445-6.012 requires checking ID for any buyer who appears under twenty-seven. The enforcement remedies in Chapter 445-8, administrative fines, infraction citations, and the tobacco retailer license consequences in Chapter 445-10 apply across all of Chapter 445-6, so a flavored-product sale can trigger license suspension or revocation in addition to a fine.