Hayward, CA Tobacco & Vaping: Flavored Tobacco Bans (2026)
Key Facts
- Ban scope
- Menthol, mint, fruit, candy-flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes
- Also banned
- Bidis, vaping devices, CBD and hemp smoking products
- Wind-down period
- Six months from July 14, 2020 effective date
- Cigar price floor
- $8.00 minimum, at least five per pack
- Cigarette price floor
- $8.00 minimum for a pack of twenty
- Enforcing agencies
- Development Services, Code Enforcement, Hayward Police
Summary
Hayward bans the sale of flavored tobacco outright: Municipal Code Section 10-1.2783(c) makes it a violation for any licensed Tobacco Retailer to sell menthol, mint, fruit, or candy-flavored tobacco, e-cigarettes, vaping devices, bidis, or CBD/hemp smoking products. Existing retailers got six months from the 2020 amendment to clear these products from their shelves entirely, with no grace period for stores later sold or transferred.
c.It shall be a violation of these regulations for any Tobacco Retailer or any of the Tobacco Retailer's agents or employees to sell or offer for sale, to possess with intent to sell or offer for sale, or exchange for any form of consideration any:1.Flavored tobacco products, parts, components, or flavored tobacco paraphernalia.2.Bidis or Beedies products.3.Electronic smoking devices, electronic nicotine delivery systems (E-cigarettes), vaping devices, including all parts and components.4.Electronic smoking and vaping products, and vaping paraphernalia, including but not limited to, devices, parts and components, e-liquids, concentrates, waxes, etc.5.CBD or hemp products, or any products made from, derivative of, or containing any amount of a Cannabis plant intended for human consumption.d.Implementation: All existing legal Tobacco Retail Establishment owners shall have six (6) months from the effective date of these regulations to cease the sales of and remove all: (i) flavored tobacco products, including but not limited to any related flavored tobacco paraphernalia...
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Municipal Code: Supplement 28 Update 1 | Charter: Supplement 1).
Full Breakdown
2782(i) as any tobacco product imparting a taste or aroma other than tobacco itself, including menthol and mint cigarettes, flavored little cigars, flavored smokeless tobacco, and flavored vaping liquids. The same subsection extends the ban to bidis, all electronic smoking devices and vaping hardware (including coils, tanks, and pods), and any CBD, hemp, or cannabis-derived product intended for human consumption. 2783(d) gave every legal Tobacco Retail Establishment six months from the ordinance's effective date to stop selling and physically remove the banned products, but that grace period disappears entirely the moment a store is sold or transferred to a new owner.
00 for twenty cigarettes, discounts and multi-pack deals included, with those price floors adjusted periodically to the Bay Area Consumer Price Index. 2784 separately bars drugstores and pharmacies from selling any tobacco product at all, giving existing pharmacy licensees only six months to wind down. Compliance is enforced by the Development Services Director, Code Enforcement, and the Hayward Police Department, which runs decoy inspections aimed at underage sales alongside at least one flavor-compliance visit to every retailer per year.
Violations & Fines
Selling a single flavored cigarette, vape pod, or CBD smoking product violates Section 10-1.2783(c) and counts toward the three-strikes threshold in Section 10-1.2794: a third violation within five years sends the retailer to the Planning Commission for revocation of its Tobacco Retailer License or conditional use permit. Violations are also citable citywide as an infraction or misdemeanor under Section 1-3.00, with fines capped by Government Code Sections 36900 and 36901.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can stores in Hayward sell menthol cigarettes or flavored vapes?
Did existing Hayward tobacco stores get time to sell off flavored inventory?
Can a Hayward pharmacy sell tobacco products?
Is there a minimum price for cigarettes in Hayward?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Hayward
California rules heatmap·Compare Hayward to another location·View the California tobacco & vaping overview
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Flavored Tobacco Bans in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Alameda County handle flavored tobacco bans.