The City Council for San Jose, Calif., announced that it would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products.
SAN JOSE — Flavored tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, could soon be a thing of the past if the city council of San Jose votes to prohibit the sale of such products.
The San Jose Spotlight, a nonprofit news outlet, initially reported this, citing new legislative information that the council will potentially advance this sort of measure.
Dr. John Maa, a board member for the American Heart Association, said that the ban could be a boon for public health in the local community.
“The tobacco industry continues to lure kids with flavored products,” Maa told the San José Spotlight, via reporting, “and today’s young people are the next generation of smokers.”
Councilmember Pam Foley is leading the effort in San Jose.
“It’s important for our city to do everything we possibly can to ensure our children do not become addicted to e-cigarette products,” Foley said in the same report.
“It is dangerous for our children’s long-term health.”
If the city passes the law banning the sale of flavored tobacco products, it will take effect up to 60 days after the initial vote.
“With 90% of adult smokers starting by age 18, this isn’t an issue of adult choice; it’s really a predatory industry taking advantage of youth who become addicted. It’s the only legal product sold that when used as directed kills half of its users,” said Jen Grand-Lejano, a local spokesperson for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
On top of that, advocates for the flavor ban indicate that nearly one in three local teens has used e-cigarettes, and one in eight still uses them.
San Jose is the latest city in the San Francisco Bay Area to implement such policies.
San Francisco became the first major city in California and the United States to ban the sale and distribution of flavored tobacco products.
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