Council Set to Consider Ban on Tobacco, Nicotine Sales Townwide

The week's one substantive piece of Town business: a notice posted Friday that the Town Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday, Aug. 4 on a proposed ordinance to prohibit the sale of tobacco and nicotine products by local businesses in Corte Madera.

The notice is thin on specifics. It doesn't say which retailers would be covered \u2014 grocery and convenience stores along with smoke shops, presumably, but that's not spelled out \u2014 nor does it mention exemptions, penalties, or a proposed start date. Those questions, and the public's reaction to the idea, are exactly what Tuesday's hearing is for.

This is a first step, not a final vote: the Council will decide at the hearing whether to introduce the ordinance at all, which would set up further consideration before anything takes effect.