“It makes it easier to get cigarettes than e-cigarettes,” one public health professor said. “It really sends a bad message to other cities and to youth. It basically says we think vaping is worse than smoking.”
San Francisco’s ban on electronic cigarettes is an “insane public policy,” some public health experts say, arguing that the city should ban all tobacco products instead.
The criticism came after San Francisco on Tuesday became the first major city in the United States to ban e-cigarettes. The ban, which will go into effect 30 days after the mayor signs the ordinance, was approved by city supervisors who cited the “growing health epidemic of youth vaping” in their decision.
E-cigarette use has undeniably soared among youth, alarming public health officials: 20.8 percent of high school students reported in 2018 that they had used the vaping devices within the past 30 days, compared to 1.5 percent in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC says e-cigarettes are not safe for children and teens, but adds that they have “potential to benefit adult smokers who are not pregnant if used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products.”
Elizabeth Chuck – NBC News –Â June 26, 2019.
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