San Francisco has required retailers to get a special permit to sell tobacco products since 2003, and now city officials want to use the process to limit the number of cigarette vendors, the San Francisco Examiner reported Nov. 18.

Currently there are 1,097 approved tobacco vendors in the city, but a proposal would cut that number by up to two thirds by limiting permits to 35 for each of the 11 supervisory districts in the city.

The proposal is backed by tobacco-control advocates, who decry the proliferation of tobacco sellers in low-income neighborhoods, and some lawmakers who say the plan would make it easier to monitor tobacco sellers and crack down on sales to minors.

Current permit-holders would not lose their right to sell tobacco, but the total number of permits would be reduced by attrition under the plan. However, business groups in the city oppose the plan. The president of San Francisco's Arab American Grocers Association said that about 30 percent of revenues in members' stores comes from tobacco sales and that the businesses would become worthless if owners cannot transfer their tobacco licenses.