San Francisco suspects ban on electronic cigarettes, the first of its kind



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By Associated press

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco is cracking down on electronic cigarettes, which critics say are aggressively targeting children. On Tuesday, a manager suggested what appears to be the first US sales ban until the federal government regulates vaping products.

According to city prosecutor Dennis Herrera, San Francisco, Chicago and New York sent a joint letter asking the US Food and Drug Administration to evaluate the effects of electronic cigarettes on public health.

Herrera said the review should have been completed before the entry of electronic cigarettes into the market. The FDA released the proposed guidelines last week giving businesses up to 2021 to submit assessment applications.

Daryl Cura presents an e-cigarette at Chicago's Vape store on April 23, 2014.Nam Y. Huh / AP file

"The result is that millions of kids are already addicted to e-cigarettes and millions of others will follow if we do not act," he said on Tuesday. .

Most electronic cigarettes contain nicotine, which is addictive and can harm the brains of developing adolescents. In the United States, young people are more likely than adults to use electronic cigarettes.

San Francisco supervisor Shamann Walton has introduced a bill banning the sale of electronic cigarettes in the city, unless there is a prior review by the FDA. Proponents say that if the measure is approved, it will be the first such ban in the country. His chances are not clear.

"We have nicotine addicts who would never have smoked cigarettes without the attractive products for our kids," said Walton, former president of the San Francisco Board of Education.

Anti-smoking activists say that electronic cigarette manufacturers are targeting children by offering candy-flavored products and using marketing that showcases their products as flashy gadgets.

San Francisco was the first city in the United States to endorse the total ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and flavored soda liquids, which voters confirmed in 2018. The city banned smoking in parks and parks. public places and does not allow smokeless tobacco in its premises. play ground.

The city has often been in the vanguard by adopting liberal social policies that go against the interests of business, that is to say, to ban bags in the past. disposable plastic or to sell fur products.

The FDA refused to comment immediately on the three cities' letter.

On February 20, 2014, a customer exhales an electronic cigarette at a store in New York.Frank Franklin II / AP file

Manufacturers were expected to submit most of the products under scrutiny in August 2018, but FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb has postponed the deadline to 2017 for 2017. He then said that the company was not going to be in business. agency and the sector needed more time to prepare.

The agency unveiled the proposed guidelines last week, postponing the deadline to August 2021 and limiting the sales of most flavored products to stores checking the age of customers when they enter or use a separate and limited area for vaping products.

In 2018, more than 3.6 million US college and high school students have used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days, including nearly 5% of college students and nearly 21% of high school students, reported Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Walton also introduced a bill banning the manufacture, sale or distribution of tobacco on city property. This proposal is aimed at Juul Labs, an electronic cigarette company that rents premises on Pier 70.

"We do not want them in our city," said Walton.

A spokesman for Juul said the bill would limit the ability of adult smokers to access electronic cigarettes, which would help them get rid of their usual habits.

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