Capitola looking to ban filtered tobacco products

CAPITOLA, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Capitola City Council is moving forward with a ban ordinance on filtered tobacco products in the city.

Last year, Santa Cruz County supervisors banned the sale of filtered cigarettes and cigars in unincorporated parts of the county, attaching that ban to Tobacco Retail Licenses in the county.

Santa Cruz County was also the first County nationwide to do so.

The potential ordinance ban on filtered tobacco products comes down to environmental reasons.

According to a study from the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (ONMS NOAA), about 25 percent of all beach trash was smoking-related, and locally, the city presented a study showing that nearly half a million cigarette butts were found on Santa Cruz County Beaches over a 10 year period.

Close to 95 percent of said smoking-related trash was cigarette filters. Those filters also a part of the environmental impact, the city saying 0.3 tons of microfibers are released into the aquatic environment every year.

People in public comment were split on the issue, with some concerned about a loss in revenue for the city as they lose out on sales tax dollars from the ban. The city provided a study from when Santa Cruz County banned flavored tobacco products in 2019, showing a graph that demonstrated an initial loss in revenue followed by a double digit percentage gain, once consumers adjusted to the new rules.

Capitola's city council directing the city to draft an ordinance that will work alongside the Capitola Police Department and the Pealth Heath Department to list the affected businesses and start community outreach on the ban. The drafted ordinance will be brought back to the council at a future meeting.