e-Cigarette Sales to be Banned in San Francisco
San Fransisco Mayor London Breed has signed an ordinance that effectively bans e-cigarette sales within the city—a first of its kind ban in the United States.
London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco has signed an ordinance that effectively bans the sales of e-cigarettes within the city—a first of its kind ban in the United States.
The ordinance says, "no person shall sell or distribute an electronic cigarette to a person in San Francisco" unless that product has undergone premarket review by the U.S. FDA. To date, no e-cigarettes have.
The ban includes sales by both brick-and-mortar stores, as well as online sales shipped to a San Fransisco address. The ordinance applies to flavored tobacco products in addition to e-cigarettes. The measure, however, does not ban the use of vapes among people 21 or older.
"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," Breed said.
The policy will take another seven months to become fully implemented. According to the measure, the policy will become "effective"30 days after being signed, and it becomes "operative" six months after that.
Under the Tobacco Control Act, the FDA has the authority to assess the safety and health risks of products, like e-cigarettes, that advertise themselves as low risk or less harmful than cigarettes. The FDA does currently require e-cigarette manufacturers to submit applications for review, but many products didn't get pre-market approval before they put their products out. Instead of removing the products, the FDA has given manufactures a 2022 deadline for submitting applications.