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Mill Valley, CA Becomes 4th Marin County Community to Eliminate Tobacco and Nicotine Sales in One Year
New ordinance phases out sale of ALL commercial tobacco and nicotine products by February 1, 2027
WASHINGTON, DC — October 7, 2026 — Mill Valley, CA has become the fourth Marin County community to eliminate the sale of ALL commercial tobacco and nicotine products, joining Tiburon, Ross, and Corte Madera in taking protective action to prevent tobacco-related disease and death for their citizens. The unprecedented concentration of local leadership and decisive action demonstrates that the growing tobacco and nicotine endgame movement is advancing.
The Mill Valley City Council voted to end the sale of commercial tobacco and nicotine products, without any exemptions while allowing the continued sale of FDA-approved cessation aids, as of February 1, 2027.
“Tobacco and nicotine products will no longer be sold on shelves in Mill Valley. This is a big deal,” said Max Perrey, Mayor, City of Mill Valley, CA. “Recognizing our core value of protecting the safety and public health of our community, we took bold action. Our City Council unanimously said no to tobacco companies selling harmful products. We hope our action encourages other cities and counties to follow us in saying- not in our community.”
“As a general surgeon who cares for patients who struggle with nicotine addiction and suffer from tobacco-related illnesses, I witness the major hidden personal and financial cost to society from smoking that we often don’t discuss, from failed operations, readmissions to the hospital, prolonged intubation and ICU stays. The economic burden to the US from tobacco use is estimated at more than $600 billion in 2018,” said Dr. John Maa, 2018 President of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society.
“The actions across Marin, inspired by Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach, serve as an inspiration across the country. This progress illuminates the path for local, state, national, and international efforts, by charting the way forward for local communities that are committed to protecting public health and preventing addiction before it begins,” noted Dr. Maa.
“The bold, decisive action taken by the Mill Valley City and Councilmembers is grounded in the efforts of dozens of local teen activists, the Smoke-Free Marin Coalition joined by a large group of public health and environmental advocates working locally, statewide, and nationally, local community members, and the Marin County Tobacco and Nicotine Prevention Program, and even two retailers in Mill Valley who voluntarily quit selling tobacco and nicotine products before the ordinance was passed,” said Dr. Jeremiah Mock, Marin County resident and Professor at the University of California San Francisco. “With this historic unanimous vote, Mill Valley is showing the world that it wants to be the healthiest community possible, for children, youth, adults, and the environment.”
“Tobacco products are deadly when used exactly as intended, yet we needlessly continue to allow their sale in communities across the country and around the world,” said Laurent Huber, Executive Director, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). “Mill Valley, Tiburon, Ross, and Corte Madera recognize that we can do better for our communities. They are prioritizing the health of their residents ahead of the tobacco industry’s profits, and we thank them.”
Mill Valley’s action follows the Marin County communities of Tiburon and Ross, which adopted comprehensive ordinances preventing commercial tobacco and nicotine sales in 2025, and Corte Madera, which has tobacco and nicotine retailers, and nevertheless adopted the nation’s first complete end-of-sales ordinance without exemptions, while continuing to sell FDA-approved cessation aids, on September 15, 2026.
Now that seven jurisdictions in Marin have passed ordinances over the past year eliminating the sale of some or all commercial tobacco and nicotine products, Marin County is emerging as a global leader in the endgame movement by protecting current and future generations from preventable death and disease while urging and supporting current users to quit, and taking steps to further protect the precious natural environment in Marin County.
ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH
Founded in 1967, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is America’s oldest anti-tobacco organization, dedicated to a world with ZERO tobacco deaths. Because tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, ASH supports bold solutions proportionate to the magnitude of the problem. https://ash.org
