On Tuesday, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted to ban sales of e-cigarettes. That may be hard to imagine in a city with its own “Cannabis Tourism City Guide,” but welcome to 2019.
The city supervisors were ostensibly worried about the explosion of teen use of e-cigarettes. San Francisco based Juul, a leader in the e-cigarettes industry, will be hit by the ban. CNBC’s Angelica LaVito reports:
San Francisco on Tuesday became the first city in the country to ban e-cigarettes after city officials approved an ordinance that prohibits selling nicotine pods or devices that haven’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
City supervisors last week voted unanimously 11 to 0 in favor of the measure. San Francisco’s rules require two votes in order for an ordinance to be finalized.
“There is so much we don’t know about the health impacts of these products, but we do know that e-cigarette companies are targeting our kids in their advertising and getting them hooked on addictive nicotine products,” San Francisco mayor London Breed said in a statement.
“We need to take action to protect the health of San Francisco’s youth and prevent the next generation of San Franciscans from becoming addicted to these products.”
Federal regulators are trying to combat what they’re calling an “epidemic” of teen vaping while local governments pursue their own actions, including banning flavors like bubble gum and fruit punch. San Francisco outlawing e-cigarettes altogether marks a harsh rebuke of the industry, particularly market leader Juul, which is headquartered in the city.
The company said it shares city officials’ goal “to keep tobacco and favor products out of the hands of anyone under 21,” “but the prohibition of vapor products for all adults in San Francisco will not effectively address underage use.” Juul says it already has the required signatures to take the ban to the ballot in November in hopes of overriding the ordinance.
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