85% of smoke shops investigated by Fresno officials found to sell illegal tobacco

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The City of Fresno has received a grant from the California Department of Justice to assistance its effort to ace down connected fume shops illegally selling baccy products that are marketed to children.

Stopping the merchantability of these products has been a precedence for the metropolis for the past respective years and they accidental the wealth is designation from the authorities that their program is working.

“These partnerships volition continue, these partnerships are important and they support our communities safe,” said Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz.

He says the $1.4 cardinal assistance is encouraging, but their enactment is acold from done, to halt fume shops from breaking the law.

Over the past year, codification enforcement and the Fresno Police Department person issued much than a cardinal dollars successful fines and citations.

Janz says the bulk of the fume shops they are investigating are breaking the law.

“85% of schools successful Fresno are wrong a 1000 feet of a fume store retired of each the inspections we person done. 85% person yielded amerciable tobacco,” Janz said.

Over the past year, codification enforcement and the Fresno Police Department person issued much than a cardinal dollars successful fines successful citations to businesses breaking the law.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias says helium plans to instrumentality connected fume shops straight by introducing a caller ordinance that would necessitate them to use for a licence to run successful the city.

“They person go the root of vape pens for our teens arsenic young property simple kids crossed the city, this state, grants volition let america to proceed our enforcement efforts they don't halt determination we person finalized our drafts of argumentation that volition effect successful the immense bid of fume shops being unopen down,” said Arias.

But until specified a argumentation is enactment successful place, the codification enforcement and the Fresno Police Department volition proceed to enforce the law.

It is chartless erstwhile the fume store ordinance volition beryllium introduced arsenic for the assistance wealth the metropolis volition person it astatine the commencement of the year.