General
Linda Aragon, MPH
Director

Anne Chan
Secretary

Main Office
Phone: 213-351-7890
FAX: 213-351-2710
Email: tobacco1@ph.lacounty.gov
3530 Wilshire Blvd. 8th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90010-2313
Get a Map!

Smoking Complaints
Please call 213-351-7890.

NOTE: TCPP can only address smoking violations in Los Angeles County. If the violation occurred outside of Los Angeles County you can browse our links page or contact your local health department for more information.

Public education notices (signs) are now available for free download!

The City of Los Angeles’s new outdoor dining no-smoking ordinance requires all affected businesses to post public education notices (Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 41.50 B 18 b). These notices must remain posted throughout the one-year public education grace period, until March 8, 2011, when the ordinance’s no-smoking provision takes effect. Businesses are encouraged to keep the notices posted afterwards for a reasonable period to continue the public education process.

Public education notices (signs) are required for businesses with outdoor dining areas (e.g., restaurants, food courts and mobile food vendors) and are available for free download below:

• Restaurant notice - click here
• Food court notice - click here
• Mobile food vendor (e.g., food kiosk, food cart or mobile food truck) notice - click here

Notices must be posted near an entrance, exit, or cashier area and must be clearly visible and readable to a majority of its customers and most persons passing outdoors. More information about posting requirements are included in the FAQ below.

Important dates and frequently asked questions (FAQ) - click here
Outdoor dining no-smoking ordinance - click here
More information call LA City at 311

Public Health receives unprecedented $32 million award

Two grants from the U.S. Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative give LA County $32.1 million over a two-year period for activities addressing the obesity epidemic and tobacco use. The initiative provides $15.9 million for obesity, physical activity and nutrition (Project RENEW), and $16.2 million for tobacco control and prevention (Project TRUST).

Press Release (March 19, 2010) - click here
Project RENEW (fact sheet) - click here
Project TRUST (fact sheet) - click here
Communities Putting Prevention to Work (fact sheet) – click here
CDC Award Recipients – click here

In November 1988, California voters approved the Tobacco Tax and Health Promotion Act (Proposition 99), making this the first state in the nation to implement a comprehensive tobacco control program. Since that time, the California Department of Public Health, California Tobacco Control Program (CDPH/CTCP) has made large strides in tobacco control and remains the largest of its kind in the world. In an effort to provide an infrastructure that reaches into communities across the state, CTCP has established tobacco control programs in 61 local health departments known as local lead agencies (58 counties and three cities). The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Tobacco Control and Prevention Program (TCPP) is the largest local lead agency in California.

The mission of TCPP is to reduce tobacco-related death, disease, and disability in Los Angeles County. To this end TCPP works closely with community-based organizations and coalitions, health advocates and other health providers to provide tobacco prevention, education, policy, cessation, and media services throughout the County of Los Angeles. The goals of TCPP are: 1) to decrease exposure to secondhand smoke, 2) to reduce tobacco availability, 3) to counter pro-tobacco influences and 4) to provide tobacco cessation. TCPP does this by using a comprehensive "social norm" change model.

Learn more about TCPP, the social norm change model, tobacco use and tobacco control priority areas by clicking here.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted the Tobacco Retail License ordinance on December 18, 2007 to encourage responsible tobacco retailing and to discourage violations of federal, state and local tobacco-related laws, especially those that prohibit the sale or distribution of tobacco products to minors in the unincorporated areas of the County. The license fee will fund education, enforcement and administration of the County's tobacco retail license program.

Pursuant to Title 11 (Health and Safety) of the Los Angeles County Code Chapter 11.35 (Tobacco Retailing), any person intending to act as a tobacco retailer in the unincorporated areas of the County shall, effective April 16, 2008, pay a fee to obtain a tobacco retail license for each location at which tobacco retailing is to occur.

Do I need to obtain a license and other frequently asked questions? Click here for a FAQ

Additional information? Call the Tobacco Retail License hotline at 213-351-7317

The next coalition meeting is Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at the California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities from 9:30 am - noon. For a map of the meeting location click here. Free parking is provided.

The mission of the Coalition is to empower and mobilize communities to reduce tobacco-related death and disease throughout Los Angeles County. The goals of the Coalition are to advocate for progressive tobacco control issues, policies, and actions within Los Angeles County; to mobilize the talents and resources of individuals, groups, and agencies to create a critical mass for promoting tobacco control efforts and strategies; to demonstrate widespread public support for tobacco control issues and actions, and address unmet needs; to collaborate with, advise and support the Tobacco Control and Prevention Program (TCPP) and to assist on high priority issues/projects; and to act as a spokesgroup regarding tobacco control issues within the community.

All residents and organizations within Los Angeles County and its surrounding areas that share the Coalition mission and goals are invited to attend and contribute.

Learn more by clicking here.