San Francisco officials propose to ban sales of electronic cigarettes

Two San Francisco officials on Tuesday proposed a new law banning the sale of electronic cigarettes in the city until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducts a review to assess its effects on public health.

Under the legislation, any sale – in-store or online – of an e-cigarette without FDA review would be prohibited.

"By law, before a new tobacco product is put on the market, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to conduct a review to assess its impact on public health," said the San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, in a statement. declaration. "Unexplainably, the FDA has not been successful in doing its work on electronic cigarettes. Until the FDA does, San Francisco needs to step up its efforts. "

Until now, no electronic cigarette has been approved by the FDA.

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Supervisor Shamann Walton, also a co-author of the bill, introduced a separate bill that would ban the sale, manufacture and distribution of all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, in the city of California.

As the bill would not apply retroactively, Juul Labs – the most popular private manufacturer of electronic cigars – would be allowed to remain in the rented space for its head office located on Pier 70 of the Port of San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. .

But Walton told the Chronicle that the legislation should serve as a warning to Juul.

"We do not want them in our city," he said, adding, "I do not want to see them leave this city, I would have liked them to be gone yesterday.

Health officials in the United States took an almost unprecedented step in November to limit the use of e-cigarettes among youth by limiting sales of child-friendly flavors to convenience stores and drug stores. service, hoping to fight what they describe as an "epidemic" of vaping youth.

The proposed measures are aimed at reducing smoking among children, who tend to prefer menthol cigarettes and flavored vaping products, according to government data.

Since then, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has accused Juul of withdrawing from the promise made previously to help reduce teenage vape. But Juul went on to say that the company remains more than ever determined to stop the vaping of minors.

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In a statement to FOX Business, Juul said he shared San Francisco's concerns about young people's use of products for spraying, but that limiting access to e-cigarettes could hurt people's health. adults who use these products to try to quit smoking.

"We encourage the city of San Francisco to severely restrict youth access but by doing so in ways that preserve the opportunity to eliminate combustible cigarettes," the company said. "This bill raises the question: why would the city be comfortable with the fact that combustible cigarettes are on the shelves when we know that they kill more than 480,000 Americans a year?" ? "