Redding, CA Tobacco & Vaping: Flavored Tobacco Bans (2026)

040(J)(1) makes it unlawful for any tobacco retailer to sell a flavored tobacco product anywhere in the city, without carving out an exception for menthol or any other specific flavor category. Because proving a product's actual chemical flavoring is difficult, subsection (J)(2) creates a rebuttable presumption: a tobacco product is treated as flavored if a retailer, manufacturer, or their employee or agent has taken any action directed at consumers that would reasonably lead them to believe the product is flavored. Marketing language claiming the product imparts a taste or odor other than tobacco, or a heating, cooling, or numbing sensation, counts as presumptive evidence of a flavored product, and the code specifically calls out descriptive terms like 'chill,' 'ice,' 'fresh,' 'arctic,' 'sweet,' 'spicy,' and 'frost' as red flags.

13, adopted by Ordinance No. 2681 on August 19, 2025, which also requires every tobacco retailer to hold a city tobacco retail license, verify buyer age at twenty-one with photo identification, and prohibits self-service tobacco displays. 110 makes any chapter violation grounds for license suspension, starting at fourteen days for a first offense within a five-year window and escalating to revocation on a third.