Santa Clara County requires every vape and tobacco retailer in unincorporated areas to hold a Tobacco Retail License under Ordinance NS-300.789 plus a state CDTFA license. Sales of flavored vape products are barred under earlier county Ordinance NS-300.913 and California SB-793.
Santa Clara County Ordinance NS-300.789, codified in Division B11 of the County Ordinance Code, requires any retailer selling tobacco or electronic cigarette products in unincorporated Santa Clara County to hold an annual county Tobacco Retail License issued by the Department of Public Health. The license, regarded as one of California's strongest, requires a one-thousand-foot buffer from schools, parks, libraries, and other tobacco retailers, mandatory age-verification protocols, and a clean compliance history. Retailers also need a state CDTFA cigarette and tobacco license under Business and Professions Code section 22972. Self-service displays are barred. Non-tobacco-flavored e-liquid, menthol, fruit, mint, and dessert flavors are illegal under NS-300.913.
Selling vape products without a county license, or selling flavored e-cigarettes, triggers license suspension or revocation under SCC Ord. NS-300.789 plus civil fines starting around five hundred dollars per violation.
See how Santa Clara's vape retail rules rules stack up against other locations.
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