Riverside enacts 45-day ban on new smoke shops – Press Enterprise

New smoke shops are temporarily prohibited from opening in Riverside, city leaders decided this week.

The Riverside City Council unanimously approved a 45-day moratorium on smoke shop permits Tuesday, Sept. 16, a move that will give officials time to study and recommend measures to prevent illegal activity at such shops.

“I think this is a great opportunity to really take a step back to look at this and see what’s best moving forward,” Councilmember Philip Falcone said Tuesday. Tobacco shops feel like Riverside’s own “war on drugs,” he added.

According to a report presented to the council Tuesday, tobacco shops are a drain on public safety resources.

Currently, there are 226 stores selling tobacco in Riverside, according to the city.

From the start of the year through August, the Riverside Police Department conducted 18 criminal investigations at 13 smoke shops in the city. Police seized 4,870 units of cannabis products, 535 nitrous oxide gas tanks, 182 units of psilocybin mushroom products — all currently prohibited in smoke shops — and 76,298 units of illegal tobacco products, according to the report.

Cannabis retail regulations were approved by the council in recent months — and are separate from the regulations enforced at smoke shops.

According to the city, there are 20 tobacco shops operating without permits, and over the past three years, the Police Department has received hundreds of calls reporting criminal activity around smoke shops.

Councilmember Sean Mill said the moratorium gives the city a chance to pause more shops popping up. During the 45-day period, city staff will consider more tobacco shop regulations and possible changes for city codes.

“We applaud this effort today … and are here to support these next steps,” Paloma Montes, the public policy lead at Blue Zones Project Riverside said at the meeting.

One of the Blue Zone initiative’s priorities is creating policy that promotes health and curbs activities that could put the community’s health at risk, such as tobacco use.