San Francisco is 1st major US city to ban e-cigarettes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes after supervisors gave the measure its second and final vote Tuesday.

Backers say they hope the legislation will curb underage use of e-cigarettes, but critics say the ban will make it harder for adults to purchase an alternative to regular cigarettes.

San Francisco is a city that celebrates its marijuana culture, but it appears deeply opposed to other vices. Last year, voters approved a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and in 2016, a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks.

E-cigarette maker Juul Labs, which is based in San Francisco, says it is opposed to youth vaping.

The company is working on a ballot initiative that would regulate but not ban e-cigarette sales. </s> San Francisco has become the first major US city to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes after officials gave the measure its second and final vote.

Supporters said they hope the legislation will curb underage use of e-cigarettes, but critics say the ban will make it harder for adults to purchase an alternative to regular cigarettes.

San Francisco is a city that celebrates its marijuana culture but appears deeply opposed to other vices.

Voters last year approved a ban on the sale of flavoured tobacco, and in 2016 a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks.

E-cigarette maker Juul Labs, based in San Francisco, said it is opposed to youth vaping.

The company is working on a ballot initiative that would regulate but not ban e-cigarette sales.–PA </s> Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to ban e-cigarettes after city supervisors unanimously passed the measure in a final vote Tuesday. The ban will go into effect 30 days after the mayor signs the ordinance.

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors approvedan ordinance to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes in the city until marketing for the devices are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The board voted unanimously last week to approve the bill but a city ordinance in San Francisco requires two readings before it can be put into effect.

The measure specifically singled out the use of electronic cigarettes for presenting "significant public health consequence" to minors.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study from February stated that about 4.9 million middle and high school students were vaping in 2018, up from 3.6 million the year before. CDC Director Robert R. Redfield said when the study released that the country must help keep kids safe from a preventable health risk.

“The skyrocketing growth of young people’s e-cigarette use over the past year threatens to erase progress made in reducing youth tobacco use," Redfield said. "It’s putting a new generation at risk for nicotine addiction."

The new measure passed along with a similar ordinance that bans the sale, manufacture and distribution of e-cigarettes on city property. San Francisco's newest measures expand on a 2014 measure which banned the sale of such devices where the sales of traditional tobacco products are already prohibited.

Supervisor Shamann Walton, who co-sponsored the ordinance, said in a statement Tuesday that the ban is until the FDA completes appropriate clinical trials and issues standards on e-cigarettes.

"As of now the FDA has not made a ruling on the safety and all health issues associated with e-cigarettes," Walton said. "In addition, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to never allow companies that sell, manufacture or distribute tobacco products, to lease any city property."

E-cigarette company Juul, which is based in San Francisco, frames vaping as a healthier alternative to smoking tobacco. Juul has said it has taken steps to deter children from using its products.

Juul spokesman Ted Kwong said in a statement Tuesday that the city's ban will "create a thriving black market instead of addressing the actual causes of underage access and use." The company said it has taken steps to enhance its age verification process online and shut down its Facebook and Instagram accounts to restrict underage access.

"We are proposing a comprehensive set of new city regulations that require mandatory electronic scanning of IDs to verify age and ID validity to avoid human error, restrictions on bulk purchases to discourage unauthorized resale or sharing of products, city permits for all online vapor product retailers who wish to do business here, and increased restrictions on marketing for vapor products to name a few," Kwong said.

San Francisco's measure also sets the stage for a November ballot fight over e-cigarettes. Juul has already contributed $500,000 to the Coalition for Reasonable Vaping Regulation, which is set to gather signatures to put an initiative on the issue before voters.

The American Vaping Association also opposes San Francisco's proposal, saying adult smokers deserve access to less hazardous alternatives. </s> San Francisco is expected to become the first city in the country to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes in an effort to combat teen vaping, which is at an all time high nationwide. The city’s board of supervisors passed measures banning the sale of e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco on Tuesday.

The ban is composed of two ordinances: the first prohibits the sale, manufacturing and distribution of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, on city property.

The second prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes or flavored products that do not have marketing approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ― something no e-cigarette manufacturer has submitted as of 2018, according to Truth Initiative, a nonprofit that advocates to end tobacco use.

The San Francisco measures would ban both in-store purchase and online purchases of e-cigarettes being shipped to the city. Any retailers that continue selling these products would receive a $1,000 fine or other penalties. However, the ordinances would not bar the use of these e-cigarettes by people 21 years old and older. (California bars e-cigarette sales for anyone under 21)

“It doesn’t ban e-cigarettes outright. It simply says that if a tobacco product is required to have FDA approval to be on the market, it can’t be sold in San Francisco until it receives that approval,” City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement earlier this month. “That’s just common sense.”

Herrera said this ban wouldn’t be necessary if the federal government had stopped e-cigarettes from coming to the market until they were reviewed by the FDA. “If the federal government is not going to act to protect our kids, San Francisco will,” he said.

A San Francisco cashier displays a packet of tobacco-flavored Juul pods. San Francisco supervisors voted to ban all sales of electronic cigarettes in an effort to crack down on youth vaping, making it the first U.S. city to do so.

This blanket ban seems to be targeted at major e-cigarette brand Juul Labs, since it comes on the heels of the company’s rapid expansion.

Juul Labs is based in San Francisco, and it bought a new building last Tuesday ― the same day the board of supervisors held a preliminary vote on the e-cigarette ban.

“The prohibition of vapor products for all adults in San Francisco will not effectively address underage use and will leave cigarettes on shelves as the only choice for adult smokers, even though they kill 40,000 Californians every year,” Juul executives said in a statement about the ordinance.

Juul is currently facing investigations and scrutiny over its possible role in the rise of tobacco use among minors. Last Thursday, House Democrats requested internal documents from Juul as part an investigation into teen vaping. In March, North Carolina filed a lawsuit against Juul, alleging it misrepresented the dangers of its nicotine products and that they were designed and marketed toward young people.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has 10 days to decide whether to sign the ban into law, but has already voiced her support. The law would not take effect until January 2020. This gives e-cigarette manufacturers seven months from the signing date to get their products FDA-certified. </s> San Francisco is on the verge of a vote that would ban the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes. The vaping company, Juul, is based there, but city leaders say they need to protect teenagers. </s> San Francisco voted to ban e-cigarettes in the first legislation of its kind in the United States.

Supervisors approved a measure banning the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes in an effort to curb the rise of youth vaping. The measure will now go for final approval to San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who said she will sign the legislation, and stores in the city will be required to remove e-cigarettes from their shelves.

After decades of decline in youth cigarette smoking, the rise of vaping has led to a major boost in nicotine use for people under the age of 21.

San Francisco is home to Juul, with more than a 50% share of the market making it the biggest producer of e-cigarettes in the country. Juul markets itself as a smoking alternative for adults seeking to quit, but San Francisco supervisor Shamann Walton, who co-authored the legislation, sees it as a continuation of big tobacco.

“We spent a few decades fighting big tobacco in the form of cigarettes,” Walton said. “Now we have to do it again in the form of e-cigarettes.” </s> SAN FRANCISCO: San Francisco will become the first major city in the United States to ban the sale of e-cigarettes as officials look to control the rapid uptick in teenage use of nicotine devices made by companies such as Juul Labs Inc.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved the ordinance on Tuesday (Jun 25), banning the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes until they have approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

States and cities across the United States have already moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes and raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21, but San Francisco's new approach is the most far-reaching yet.

No other major cities have proposed a similar hardline ban, though San Francisco's move could lead others to consider it.

The city council in Beverly Hills, California, this month approved a ban on the sale of tobacco products beginning 2021, though it carved out exceptions for some cigar lounges and hotels.

Juul, which is based in San Francisco and has grown to be the dominant e-cigarette maker in the United States, has been at the center of the debate. As its sales soared over the last two years, so did its popularity among teenagers.

Federal data last year showed a 78 per cent increase in e-cigarette use among U.S. high schoolers, and state and local lawmakers have been grappling with how to regulate Juul and other similar products.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who spearheaded the ordinance earlier this year, praised the move and said it was necessary because of what he called an "abdication of responsibility" by the FDA in regulating e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes have existed in a regulatory gray area for years. Its makers originally faced a 2018 deadline to submit applications to the FDA to sell products, but the deadline was pushed back to 2022.

Amid the surge in teenage use, the FDA in March moved up that deadline to 2021. A separate court case from anti-tobacco groups may force the FDA to set an earlier deadline.

"This lack of clarity is causing tremendous confusion at the same time that a whole new generation of young people are getting addicted to nicotine," Herrera told Reuters.

"The explosion in youth use and the health risks to young people are undeniable."

San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton, who sponsored the ordinance, said he has been constantly hearing from young people about e-cigarettes and "how readily available they are in schools, the fact that they're easily hidden from educators."

After Tuesday's vote, Juul spokesman Ted Kwong said the ban "will drive former adult smokers who successfully switched to vapor products back to deadly cigarettes, deny the opportunity to switch for current adult smokers, and create a thriving black market instead of addressing the actual causes of underage access and use."

He said the company has already taken steps to prevent underage use and has proposals of its own to prevent sales to minors in the city.

Juul, in which Marlboro maker Altria Group has a 35per cent stake, has pulled popular flavors such as mango and cucumber from retail store shelves and shut down its social media channels on Instagram and Facebook.

FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum declined to comment on the San Francisco ban, but said the agency is "committed to continuing to tackle the troubling epidemic of e-cigarette use among kids," including limiting access to flavored e-cigarettes and cracking down on companies and retailers who sell to minors.

E-cigarettes are generally thought to be safer than traditional cigarettes, which kill up to half of all lifetime users, according to the World Health Organization, but the long-term health effects of the nicotine devices remain largely unknown.

Bruce Colbert, who was at a tobacco retailer called the Smoke Shop in San Francisco, said the ordinance will harm people like him who are trying to stop smoking cigarettes.

"You can get high. You can get drunk, too. But you can't vape to cut back on your cigarettes," he said.

"Either I go back to smoking cigarettes full time, or go across the Bay and go somewhere else. No big deal."

San Francisco city officials last year approved a ban on flavoured tobacco and e-cigarette liquids, a move upheld by voters.

Juul last month filed paperwork in San Francisco for another ballot measure that experts say would make the flavor ban and Tuesday's e-cigarette ban unenforceable.

Juul spokesman Kwong disagreed that the ballot initiative would affect the flavor ban, but said it would supersede the e-cigarette ordinance approved on Tuesday.

The ballot measure, if approved, would put in place regulations favored by Juul, which it says would "ensure that underage access and use is addressed comprehensively but adults aren't driven back to cigarettes."

The e-cigarette ban will go into effect early next year, according to the city attorney's office, and will apply to both online and brick-and-mortar sales in San Francisco.

City officials also passed a separate ordinance prohibiting the manufacture and distribution of all tobacco products on city property. </s> Image copyright Boston Globe via Getty Images

San Francisco has become the first US city to ban sales of e-cigarettes until their health effects are clearer.

Officials on Tuesday voted to ban stores selling the vaporisers and made it illegal for online retailers to deliver to addresses in the city.

The Californian city is home to Juul Labs, the most popular e-cigarette producer in the US.

Juul said the move would drive smokers back to cigarettes and "create a thriving black market".

San Francisco's mayor, London Breed, has 10 days to sign off the legislation, but has indicated she will. The law would begin to be enforced seven months from that date, although there have been reports firms could mount a legal challenge.

Anti-vaping activists say firms deliberately target young people by offering flavoured products. Not only is more scientific investigation into the health impact needed, critics say, but vaping can encourage young people to switch to cigarettes.

Earlier this year the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the national regulator, issued proposed guidelines giving companies until 2021 to apply to have their e-cigarette products evaluated.

A deadline had initially been set for August 2018, but the agency later said more preparation time was needed.

San Francisco's City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, who campaigned for a ban, praised the move and said it was necessary because of an "abdication of responsibility" by the FDA in regulating e-cigarettes.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Smoking v vaping: Watch lab test results

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of US teenagers who admitted using nicotine products rose about 36% last year, something it attributed to a growth in e-cigarette use.

Under federal law, the minimum age to buy tobacco products is 18 years, although in California and several other states it is 21.

Image copyright Getty Images

Juul previously said it supported cutting vaping among young people but only in conjunction with tougher measures to stop them accessing regular cigarettes.

The company's small device, just longer than a flash drive, has about 70% of the US vaping market.

San Francisco's ban would "drive former adult smokers who successfully switched to vapor products back to deadly cigarettes", said Juul spokesman Ted Kwong. It would also stop adult smokers switching and create a "thriving black market".

"We have already taken the most aggressive actions in the industry to keep our products out of the hands of those underage and are taking steps to do more."

Traditional tobacco products will "remain untouched by this legislation, even though they kill 40,000 Californians every year," he said.

Juul, 35%-owned by Marlboro maker Altria Group, has already withdrawn popular flavours such as mango and cucumber from retail stores and closed its social media channels on Instagram and Facebook. </s> San Francisco is on the verge of a vote that would ban the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes. The vaping company, Juul, is based there, but city leaders say they need to protect teenagers.

The country's biggest e-cigarettes company, Juul Labs, calls San Francisco home. That has not stopped the city's board of supervisors from taking up a vote tomorrow. It is considering a bill to ban the sale of e-cigarettes. Reporter Laura Klivans of member station KQED has the story.

LAURA KLIVANS, BYLINE: Fifteen-year-old Abbey Chaitin has lived in San Francisco her whole life. She doesn't really see the draw of using e-cigarettes, which her friends just call vaping.

ABBEY CHAITIN: Because I've noticed how addicted my peers have become to, like, vaping.

KLIVANS: She sits on her bed in her purple room. There's a "Breakfast Club" poster on the wall, and you can see San Francisco's summer fog out her window. She told me the majority of her friends have tried vaping, and a few are now hooked.

CHAITIN: I'll see them in class, like, fidgeting or - like, they need it to focus, to function.

KLIVANS: Last year, one in five high school seniors reported vaping in the past month. That's almost double the number who reported vaping the year before. Even eighth-graders are vaping in record numbers.

SHAMANN WALTON: We're going to fight hard to stop that.

WALTON: We spent a few decades fighting big tobacco in the form of cigarettes. And now we have to do it again in the form of e-cigarettes.

KLIVANS: The proposed law would ban selling e-cigarettes in the city and delivering them to San Francisco addresses. That means you couldn't even order them online. In California, it's illegal for anyone under 21 to buy tobacco products, both regular and e-cigarettes. Still, Walton says vaping devices are common in the city's middle and high schools. He points out that nicotine, no matter how you ingest it, can harm a young person's developing brain.

WALTON: And now we're just trading one nicotine addiction for another.

KLIVANS: Juul's vaping device, also called a Juul, was introduced in 2015. The company now controls 70% of the vaping market. Company officials say they also want to keep e-cigarettes away from young people. They say they've made it harder for underage buyers to purchase Juul off their website, and Juul shut down its accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

But the company argues banning e-cigarettes will mean adults who want to quit smoking regular cigarettes will have a harder time. San Francisco resident Jay Friedman agrees. The software engineer used to smoke a pack a day for 20 years.

JAY FRIEDMAN: E-cigarettes have really gotten me down to smoking, like, two or three a day.

KLIVANS: Friedman supported a ban on flavored tobacco that city voters passed last year.

FRIEDMAN: I feel like it was a good step to get rid of the fruit flavors for kids, but this feels like maybe a step too far.

KLIVANS: He says if e-cigarettes are banned, he would try to quit nicotine altogether, but...

FRIEDMAN: There would be a point and a moment of weakness where I'd just end up buying a pack of smokes again. And then it's just a slippery slope from there.

KLIVANS: City supervisors worry that for every adult that might benefit, dozens of young people could become addicted. Small businesses in San Francisco are concerned the ban will hurt their bottom line.

KLIVANS: Miriam Zouzounis and her family own this convenience store near downtown San Francisco, Ted's Market.

MIRIAM ZOUZOUNIS: When people come and want to purchase something at the store and we don't have that exact item that they want, they're not going to buy the rest of the items that they might on that trip - a drink or a sandwich - if we don't have their type of tobacco product.

KLIVANS: She says sales from e-cigarettes are at least $200 to $300 a day. And as a board member of the Arab American Grocers Association, she believes laws like this mostly affect immigrant-owned businesses.

If passed, the ban would go into effect early next year. But 15-year-old Abbey Chaitin thinks it won't make much of a difference.

CHAITIN: People my age can find a way around that if they really need to.

KLIVANS: Meanwhile, Juul is collecting signatures for a ballot initiative to override the ban in November.

KELLY: And this story is part of a reporting partnership with NPR News, KQED and Kaiser Health News.
San Francisco becomes the first U.S. city to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes (vapes) until the health effects of using them are better understood. Juul, the largest producer of e-cigarettes in the United States, which is based in the city, condemns the ban saying the move will drive people back to tobacco smoking and will create a black market.