Beverly Hills Mayor explains the real reason for banning all tobacco sales

Beverly Hills, California became the first U.S. city to ban the sale of tobacco and nicotine products after the city council voted unanimously in favor of the ban. By 2021, tobacco will not be available for purchase anywhere in the city.  Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch said the decision stems from research.

“If I may quote Ruth Malone who is a professor at UC San Francisco correctly, I think and very wisely she said when you look at the history of consumer products there's never been a more deadly consumer product than cigarettes. And so it's not surprising that somebody would finally say maybe this is too dangerous to be sold on every corner. And that's, that's a lot of what's behind our reasoning,” explained Mirisch during an appearance on FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.” on Monday.

“There is a little bit of symbolism because you can go down the road [to purchase tobacco]. But our hope is that other cities will follow suit,” he added.

Under the ruling three swanky cigar lounges within the city will be exempt—after a group of enthusiasts—including former. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lobbied for it, as long as they smoke indoors.

“People know the environment they're putting themselves into. They don't go there to purchase tobacco that then they may end up smoking on the streets,” he explained. “So the cigar lounges we look at as a little bit of a different scenario and if you're going to ask me is our ordinance perfect. It's not.”

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Once the final ordinance was passed, Mirisch learned that Manhattan Beach, which is located in L.A. County, is also looking to possibly implement a ban as well.