Cleveland City Council passes changes to tobacco laws as issues continue to grow

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Cleveland City Council passed four new pieces of legislation centered around changing the City’s tobacco and smoke shop laws.

The first piece of legislation brought Cleveland’s tobacco and smoke shop ordinance language in-line with the state’s statutes.

The second is for retail licenses required for tobacco sales. The new legislation would establish a “Cleveland tobacco retail licensing regulation” which requires all retailers to obtain a retail license for each location where tobacco products are sold in Cleveland. Businesses will need to pay an annual licensing fee.

The third is for limiting smoke shop locations. Smoke shops will not no longer be allowed within two miles of another smoke shop, cannot be located in the same building as another smoke shop, or within 500 feet of a church, library, school, park or playground.

The final change was in window signage. The regulations now require that window signage be on no more than 25% of the window area.

All of these changes are effective immediately.

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