New smoke shops in Modesto blocked. Existing ones face tight regulations
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- Modesto imposed a cap of nine smoke shops.
- All existing shops must apply for a police-issued permit by November 14, 2025.
- Violations include steep fines, with sales of flavored nicotine prompting citations.
At the recommendation of the Police Department, Modesto City Council voted unanimously in July to tighten regulations on new and existing smoke shops.
The motion passed July 22 forces existing smoke shops to apply for a permit, which must be renewed annually. It also requires the city to have no more than one smoke shop per 25,000 residents, or nine total.
Because Modesto already has more than this, the council’s decision essentially blocks any new smoke shops from being opened. As of October 2024, Modesto had 41 licensed tobacco shops and an undetermined number of sites that operate without permission.
Smoke shops with an already-existing permit need to apply for a new one by November and prove they’re compliant with both current law and the new regulations. The shops that don’t — and the ones that never had a license to begin with — face fines, penalties and potential legal action.
The move follows over a year of crackdowns by the Police Department. Raids on smoke shops began in March 2024, lasting throughout the summer and fall.
Shortly after the City Council placed a moratorium on new smoke shops last year, MPD held a press conference announcing that almost every smoke shop inspected was either out of compliance or breaking the law. The 2024 raids and inspections discovered hidden gambling dens, guns and the sale of illicit drugs including psilocybin mushrooms and methamphetamine.
Inspections also continued into this year. In March, MPD inspected eight smoke shops and found that all were out of compliance by selling flavored nicotine products.
In the past year, backlash against smoke shops came from law enforcement, prosecutors, parents and students, who urged the city to do something about them.
“Our experience with this has demonstrated a need for a robust city ordinance… to protect our community, especially our youth,” said MPD Chief Brandon Gillespie.
A smoke shop is defined by the city as any “retailer that has 15% or more of the square feet in the establishment or more than 15 linear feet of display area (contiguous or noncontiguous), used for the sale, distribution, display or storage of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia.”
The new regulations— not applicable to premium cigar retailers, hookah lounges and cannabis dispensaries — state that smoke shops cannot be within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, childcare centers and other smoke shops. They also cannot be within 100 feet of residential property and cannot be located downtown.
However, existing smoke shops that violate any of those regulations don’t necessarily have to close their doors. If a shop applies for and is issued a permit, it will be exempt from location restrictions as long as it’s in compliance with the rest of the ordinance.
It will cost $500 to apply for a permit. If approved, the permit itself will cost $1,100 with reinspection costing $530. Permits will be issued by the chief of police, who will be responsible for accepting or rejecting new permits.
If a permitted shop fails inspection or is found to violate the law, it can face steep fines: $500 to $2,000 for a first violation, $1,000 to $3,000 for the second within five years, and $2,000 to $5,000 for the third and all subsequent violations within a five-year period. There can be up to a $20,000 fine for operating without a permit.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a pattern of behavior in smoke shops that have shown just a consistent disregard for the law,” said City Councilmember Chris Ricci. “And when you have an entire section of businesses that are behaving in that manner, I feel compelled to act. … I think it’s going to make our community better, I think it’s going to make our community safer and I think it’s going to make our community safer for our kids.”
All existing smoke shops are required to apply for a permit and meet all applicable requirements by Nov. 14.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM.
