FIGHTING BACK IN PLEASANT HILL
PLEASANT HILL YOUTH & TOBACCO
Help protect Pleasant Hill youth. Sign our petition.
Cheap Tobacco and Vapes Still Sold in Pleasant Hill Stores
In April 2026, LGBTQ Minus Tobacco and Contra Costa Tobacco Prevention Coalition volunteers were able to purchase flavored tobacco, vapes, or small packs of cigarillos at 70% of Pleasant Hill retailers. All of these products are already prohibited by local law.
The cheapest tobacco observed was single cigars priced at only 88 cents. These products are cigarette-sized or larger and wrapped in tobacco leaf. They are often used with marijuana.
Tobacco Use Is Widespread in Schools
Pleasant Hill students and parents share that e‑cigarette use is widespread on middle and high school campuses. This includes separate lines to use the restroom stalls as intended or to vape, as well as using the restroom off‑campus.
While 17% of Mount Diablo Unified School District juniors self-report having ever tried an e-cigarette, Pleasant Hill high schoolers themselves perceive the actual rate to be as high as 60-80%.
© California Department of Public Health
LGBTQ+ Youth In Pleasant Hill
Use Tobacco More
LGBTQ+ youth face more stress because of discrimination, which leads them to try tobacco earlier and at higher rates than their peers.
Queer MDUSD students are twice as likely to report feeling hopelessness or persistent sadness and twice as likely to report using tobacco or vaping.
Pleasant Hill Can Be Proactive
The city currently has no way to ensure that tobacco retailers are following the law. Retailers are only required to have a city tobacco license after a violation is found. Pleasant Hill can join Concord and over 200 other California cities and counties in requiring stores to have a license to sell tobacco. In Concord, all vapes were removed from retailer shelves after education about that city’s 2023 TRL.
Proactive enforcement is important when 23% of Pleasant Hill tobacco retailers visited by state underage decoys in 2023 made an illegal sale. Surveys consistently find that many underage users get tobacco from stores, while very few buy devices or products online.
© California Department of Public Health
The solution:
Tobacco Retail Licenses (TRLs) put teeth into tobacco laws by making sure retailers will lose their ability to sell tobacco if they sell to kids. TRLs can also stop the sale of e-cigarettes and flavors, raise prices to make them less affordable for teens, reduce the number of tobacco stores in underserved areas, and more.
Stores pay an annual fee to maintain their TRLs. The fee can be set high enough to fund enforcement activities at no net cost to the city. Some cities contract with community organizations for enforcement. Strong TRLs reduce teens’ odds of ever trying or currently using tobacco.