Mill Valley will stop allowing the sale of cigarettes, vapes, nicotine pouches and every other commercial tobacco product inside city limits starting Feb. 1, 2027, after the City Council gave final approval to the ban on Oct. 5.

What the ordinance does

The ordinance replaces the city's tobacco retailer licensing program with an outright prohibition. It covers in-store sales and delivery into the city, including orders placed online, by phone, by mail, through apps, by curbside pickup or by common carrier. Products covered include cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, nicotine pouches and vaping devices.

It does not make it illegal for adults to buy, have or use tobacco, and it still allows the sale of FDA-authorized products meant to help people quit. The city's existing retailers can keep selling through Jan. 31, 2027 to clear out inventory. City staff said five retailers are affected. Licenses expire Feb. 1, and no new ones will be issued.

The vote was 4-0, with Councilmember Burke absent, according to the city's published ordinance summary. The council had approved the first reading on Sept. 21 after a long public hearing, and final approval came with little discussion.

Why Marin keeps going further

City staff pointed to Marin County Public Health figures showing that 17% of Marin 11th graders report vaping, compared with 10% statewide. Mill Valley first regulated smoking in public places in 1992.

The move follows a string of local restrictions. Tiburon and Ross banned retail sale of nicotine products last fall, and the county Board of Supervisors banned e-cigarette sales in unincorporated areas, set minimum prices and barred heated tobacco products. Fairfax restricted nicotine pouches in February, and in September Corte Madera adopted what supporters called the country's first end-of-sales ordinance with no exemptions. Its ban takes effect the same day as Mill Valley's.

Mayor Max Perrey said he hopes other cities and the county follow. Public health advocates who spoke praised the vote. The only speaker against it, from the California Fuels and Convenience Alliance trade group, argued bans push buyers elsewhere and asked for a one-year sunset so the council could review results. The council did not take up that request.

The ordinance formally takes effect Nov. 4, 2026, with the sales ban kicking in Feb. 1.