Court order holds online tobacco retailers accountable for violating city laws that protect youth from harmful tobacco products
SAN FRANCISCO (January 7, 2025) — City Attorney David Chiu announced today that his office secured a settlement that requires two online tobacco retailers to prevent sales of illegal tobacco products in San Francisco. The City’s lawsuit alleged Millennial One, Inc. and Gashiro Technology LLC unlawfully sold flavored tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to consumers in San Francisco and violated California’s Unfair Competition Law.
The stipulated judgment, approved by the San Francisco Superior Court on December 19, 2024, requires the Defendants to ensure flavored tobacco products or e-cigarettes cannot be sold or distributed in San Francisco. As part of the judgment, the companies’ websites must contain clear language that flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes may not be sold in San Francisco and cannot allow San Francisco addressees to be used in shipping or billing address fields. The judgment also requires the companies to pay $68,000 in civil penalties and attorneys’ fees.
“San Francisco banned flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes because these products clearly harm young people,” said City Attorney David Chiu. “Online tobacco retailers were quick to try to subvert our laws by selling online and shipping banned products into San Francisco. We take protecting our community’s health seriously and selling these products will not be tolerated in San Francisco.”
“San Francisco has worked for decades to reduce tobacco use and combat nicotine addiction, including banning flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes that target young people,” said Supervisor Shamann Walton. “In 2019, San Franciscans overwhelmingly voted against e-cigarettes, with over 81% of voters supporting the ban. Despite this, some tobacco retailers continued to violate our laws by selling banned products online to city residents. I am proud to have stood with City Attorney David Chiu and our community members in sending a strong message that these violations will not be tolerated. The judgment finalized in favor of the city reaffirms our commitment to protecting public health and holding violators accountable.”
Background
The proliferation of flavored e-cigarettes has threatened decades of progress in reducing youth tobacco use. Flavored e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the United States as a result of the tobacco industry marketing a variety of flavors that appeal to youth, such as gummy bear, cotton candy, and fruit punch. The industry skillfully keeps up with evolving youth trends, now offering tobacco products in flavors like matcha, boba, and croissant.
In 2023, 2.8 million U.S. middle and high school students, or 10 percent of high school students and 4.6 percent of middle school students, reported currently using e-cigarettes. In 2021, 20.1 percent of San Francisco’s high school students had tried e-cigarettes, and 7.9 percent reported currently using e-cigarettes.
Due to the alarming public health risks of flavored tobacco products, San Francisco enacted laws prohibiting the sale or distribution of flavored tobacco products and electronic cigarettes in San Francisco. Supervisor Shamann Walton and former City Attorney Dennis Herrera spearheaded San Francisco’s successful effort to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes, and former Supervisor Malia Cohen authored and passed the City’s ordinance banning flavored tobacco products.
A November 2023 report from researchers at UC San Diego suggests that as California and local jurisdictions have taken action to prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products against brick-and-mortar retailers, online sales of flavored tobacco products have increased. Enforcing these laws against online retailers to stop sales of these dangerous products in San Francisco is key to protecting youth. Statewide, California has strengthened enforcement powers against flavored tobacco products with the passage of two new laws, AB 3218 and SB 1230, that explicitly prohibit the online sale of flavored tobacco products and took effect on January 1, 2025.
In December 2023, San Francisco filed a lawsuit against Millennial One, Inc. and Gashiro Technology LLC, alleging violations of San Francisco’s ban on flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes as well as violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law. The parties entered into a stipulated judgment in which Millennial One, Inc. and Gashiro Technology LLC will pay San Francisco $20,000 and $48,000, respectively.
The case is People of the State of California and People of the City and County of San Francisco v. Millennial One, Inc., et al., San Francisco Superior Court, No. CGC-23-610794. The stipulated judgment can be found here.
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