FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – The City of Fresno has received a grant from the California Department of Justice to help its effort to crack down on smoke shops illegally selling tobacco products that are marketed to children.
Stopping the sale of these products has been a priority for the city for the last several years and they say the money is recognition from the state that their plan is working.
“These partnerships will continue, these partnerships are important and they keep our communities safe,” said Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz.
He says the $1.4 million grant is encouraging, but their work is far from done, to stop smoke shops from breaking the law.
Over the last year, code enforcement and the Fresno Police Department have issued more than a million dollars in fines and citations.
Janz says the majority of the smoke shops they are investigating are breaking the law.
“85% of schools in Fresno are within a thousand feet of a smoke shop out of all the inspections we have done. 85% have yielded illegal tobacco,” Janz said.