In my activism with LGBTQ Minus Tobacco, we were invited to table at the Jesse Bethel High School mental health fair as part of Mental Health Awareness Month in May.

This was a pleasant experience. The kids were receptive to us being there and asked a lot of questions, knowing in large part how harmful smoking and vaping are to our communities. As many know, the insidious tobacco industry in particular targets communities like LGBTQ and BIPOC, causing them to smoke at higher rates.

Some of our team poses after our rushed presentation:

I have the privilege of presenting with a coalition of organizations at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, April 25, about a very important subject that will make a difference for the future of Vallejo youth if we can get it adopted.  Last year with the same coalition LGBTQ Minus Tobacco, Bay Area Community Resources and VibeSolano, we successfully got a Smokefree Multi-Unit Housing ordinance passed unanimously. 

After Proposition 31 prohibiting the sale of most tobacco flavors in California (including menthol) passed last November, it is important that we give some teeth to the new rules that are designed to protect our youth from access to very addictive nicotine products like cigarettes, cigarillos, vapes, cigars, hookah, etc. It’s shocking how many products every tobacco retailer in Vallejo I visited in January had available.  Most alarming was that some of the delivery devices looked like highlighters and USB drives to help youth hide their tobacco consumption from teachers and parents.  This is by design.

Some of you know that I’ve been volunteering against Big Tobacco since losing my father when he was fifty due to his smoking, not to mention other family members.  I encourage Vallejo residents to speak in favor of a TRL by doing one of the following if you are so inclined.

Here is a fact sheet on TRL’s:

I’m very proud to advocate for a Vallejo Tobacco Retail License (TRL) with a coalition of activists from LGBTQ Minus Tobacco, Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) and in my capacity as Co-Chair of Tobacco Free Solano (a program of the Solano Department of Health aka Vibe Solano).

We spoke at the VCUSD School Board meeting and they approved the Tobacco control resolution unanimously. Thank you school board member John Fox for agendizing us and allowing us to speak about this important issue. We are also honored with an opportunity to speak at Vallejo City Council on April 11 about the issue for our city.

Adjoa, Nefer, Tino, Tara, Amaya, me and Jimmy.

With the passage of Prop 31 to ban most flavored tobacco products in California, there is a call to action for local jurisdictions to enforce this new edict. Surveys our coalition did in January, weeks after the law went into effect, showed poor compliance among the 25 tobacco retailers in Vallejo. A Vallejo-specific TRL can accomplish this. TRL’s like the one hundreds of California jurisdictions have like Benicia, are revenue NEUTRAL. The funding from the retail license fees pays for gravely needed code enforcement resources, a bolstering which we know Vallejo could use. TRL’s that are written well can:

1. Mandate minimum pack sizes and prices to deter youth economically from becoming addicted.
2. Minimize the concentration of large numbers of tobacco retailers in poorer neighborhoods.
3. Cover the exceptions that Prop 31 made for some flavored tobacco products like hookah, some cigars, etc.
4. Mandate that pharmacies (which literally exist to sell medicine), stop selling tobacco products; and
5. Most importantly, enforce the law prohibiting the sale of any tobacco products to minors under 21 years of age, those minors of which Big Tobacco is targeting the most since virtually all new nicotine addicts are underage.

Vallejo youth deserve a chance at living their best lives without the fate of struggling health due to a difficult addiction to break.  Please endorse a Vallejo-specific TRL to make an impact.

I’ve been doing activism against Big Tobacco for years as a volunteer. This week I got my official title as a Co-Chair of Tobacco Free Solano (TFS), a program of Vibe Solano (the Solano County Department of Health). It’s a two-year volunteer term. The picture below is a little gift package they sent which is very sweet. Little do they know I have no intention of watching the Super Bowl, but instead will be going to a play for Black History Month in Pinole, which was directed by my friend.

I’ve been an activist against Big Tobacco since the early 1990’s when my father died at the age of fifty from his addiction to nicotine and it gave me a primary reason to go to law school.

Whenever I can I’m going to continue to fight against an industry that targets youth and queer people in particular with insidious tactics. Getting data by conducting surveys is one way I can do that. LGBTQ Minus Tobacco has given me great opportunities to fight locally, as I had been doing more regionally and nationally when I lived in New York City.

This event adjacent to the Farmers Market was organized by Solano AIDS Coalition.

County Supervisor Monica Brown even featured me in her Facebook feed!

I’ve been an activist against Big Tobacco since the early 1990’s when my father died at the age of fifty from his addiction to nicotine and it gave me a primary reason to go to law school.

Whenever I can I’m going to continue to fight against an industry that targets youth and queer people in particular with insidious tactics. Getting data by conducting surveys is one way I can do that. LGBTQ Minus Tobacco has given me great opportunities to fight locally, as I had been doing more regionally and nationally when I lived in New York City.