Indian American business owners against SB1400 in California, hundreds show up at State Capitol to protest

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) – More than 600 Indian-American convenience store and gas station owners came together at the California State Capitol at the end of last month to protest SB 1400, a bill which seeks to limit the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to smoke shops only.

Authored by California state Senator Bob Wiecowski, SB 1400 was passed by the state Senate on June 2. It was then passed to the Assembly’s Business and Professions committee where it was argued publicly on June 28, failing to secure enough votes for passage.

Jivtesh Gill, founding board member of the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association, who organized the June 28 protest, called the bill a major threat to the livelihoods of thousands of Indian Americans who reside in California.

“This bill would have put at least half of California’s convenience stores out of business,” he said. Store employees, largely comprised of immigrants, would be prone to losing their jobs, he added.

There are more than 33,000 convenience stores and gas stations which operate throughout the state, generating a revenue annually estimated at $40 billion. About two-thirds of such stores are owned and operated by Indian Americans and other Asian Americans, Gill said.

Sales of tobacco account for roughly 25 to 30 percent of annual sales, Gill said, noting that the bill would limit sales of tobacco to stores that generate more than 60 percent of their annual revenue from tobacco. Wiecowski defended his proposed legislation as a way to prevent tobacco from landing in the hands of children, citing the fact youth are only permitted to enter smoke shops in the presence of an adult. Although this is a great preventative measure on his part, it is still very common to find youth smoking cigarettes, however, even though this is on the rise, there are more and more solutions being presented to smokers in the modern age in order to help them quit. For example, there are many places that now offer tobacco-free nicotine pouches that can support one when they’re in the process of quitting smoking. There are plenty of products and methods for smokers to test out, but it is still a very big issue regarding today’s youth.

“Tobacco products have a pervasive presence in retail stores throughout California,” said Wieckowski, chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, in a press statement after his bill failed in committee.

“They are widely shown in front of children’s eyes on store shelves and marketing displays. By putting in common sense limits on where they can be sold, we can reduce the exposure of minors to these harmful products and decrease the number of children who become addicted to cigarettes.”

“It’s disappointing that Assembly support didn’t match public support to reduce the ubiquitous presence of tobacco retailers and thereby improve the health of Californians,” the senator added.

Last month, California upped the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21. “We don’t promote smoking for kids,” Gill said, adding that his organization did not campaign against the initiative to raise the legal age limit. He said convenience store and gas station owners frequently check IDs to confirm a buyer is of legal age, and said they have a higher compliance rate than that of smoke shops which, he said, “are desperate to make a buck,” and therefore often overlook the protocol.

Gill said the compliance failure rate for convenience stores selling tobacco products to minors is less than four percent. Smoke shops have a compliance failure rate of more than 15 percent, he said.

The bill would authorize 7,000 new licenses for smoke shops. Convenience stores and gas station marts currently also require a license from the State Board of Equalization to sell tobacco in California.

Amarjit Sekhon, who owns a 7-11 franchise in San Leandro, Calif. with her husband, said that about 20 percent of the store’s revenues are generated from the sale of tobacco. But people don’t just buy cigarettes, she said. While customers are in her store, they will browse for other snack items, which constitutes for an additional 10 to 12 percent profit when accompanied with tobacco sales. She fears losing critical sales should SB 1400 pass.

“This is a very serious event for our community,” she said. “Kids know they can buy cigarettes at smoke shops,” she said.

“Cigarettes are going to be sold. Why take it out of responsible hands? This is discrimination”

Wiecowski’s office released a study that was performed by Stanford University which showed that convenience stores popular amongst youth displayed three times as many cigarette marketing materials in store windows, almost three times more advertising inside, and twice as much shelf space to top brands bought by minors than other convenience stores located in the same community.

“Tobacco retailers are nearly as prevalent as automatic teller machines, which raises concern about why products that are used by less than 15 percent of California adults should be as readily available as cash,” said Lisa Henriksen, co-author of the Stanford study and a senior research scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research Center.

The study’s research additionally found that almost half of California public schools are within 1,000 feet of a tobacco retailer, making the children unavoidably exposed to their advertisements. When they enter, adolescence are exposed to cigarette displays behind the counter which showcase more than 120 different packs of cigarettes, the study said.

“In our survey of 1,500 California students who had never smoked, 18 percent tried smoking within 12 months, but this rate increased to 29 percent among students who visited convenience stores at least twice a week,” she said, adding, “approximately one-third of adult smokers said they would smoke fewer cigarettes if they had to travel farther to get them, and younger smokers were even more likely to agree with this statement.”