FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — New rules in effect Thursday will change the landscape of the more than 120 smoke shops across the City of Fresno, narrowing that number down to seven per council district, allowing for a total of 49.
“Every council district south of Shaw is completely overwhelmed by smoke shops, and those smoke shops have led to a significant increase in crime,” said Fresno City Council Vice President Miguel Arias.
Leading up to these changes, the city, along with the state attorney general, raided dozens of shops across Fresno and found tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of illegal products.
“The majority of the smoke shops that we were looking at have sold illegal cannabis. The majority of the smoke shops that we were looking at were selling illegal tobacco,” said Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz.
“Many of those smoke shops also have gambling operations. We’ve discovered at least 15 firearms.”
But, Maummer Ghazi, a smoke shop employee, says the compliant shops are being punished unfairly because of the bad actors.
“The good shops are definitely going to pay their price. That’s for sure, that’s wrong. If you can see,e I only have clothing, some other items, posters. I don’t do any of the illegal stuff,” said Ghazi.
Ghazi is already looking for a new job, wondering how he will be able to support his family if the shop is forced to close.
“Each store has a family, so that’s at least what 100 smoke shops are going to close down? So, that’s 100 families that are going to go. Where are they going to work? How are they going to feed their kids?” said Ghazi.
The new rules will also have strict location constraints, prohibiting them near schools, parks, and daycares.
They will also require owners of smokeshops to install surveillance cameras and maintain a clean store exterior.
Councilmember Nelson Esparza says that before this, smoke shops had zero oversight.
Now they are held to rules similar to those of vendors who sell cannabis or alcohol.
“Really, just come pick up a business license and operate as a retail shop is really how it was going before, very little to no proper regulation,” said Esparza.
The smoke shops did take the matter to court, but just this week lost.
A federal judge ruled on the side of the city, saying the shops could not demonstrate ‘immediacy or irreparable harm’.
The shops will not be closing down overnight; they have the next 30 days to be in compliance.
Then, over the next 18 months, code enforcement and police will begin a process to enforce the new rules and decide which shops will be able to stay open.
