Juul defiantly announced its purchase two weeks ago of a 28-story downtown office building in San Francisco.
Juul is gearing up for an all-or-nothing fight over the surge of local bans on vaping around the country. And the battle is starting in its headquarters city of San Francisco, which just enacted the nation’s first blanket prohibition on e-cigarette sales.
More than 200 jurisdictions have placed limits on selling flavored tobacco products, including nearly two dozen cities and counties in California. San Francisco’s ordinance, signed last week, goes further by cutting off all sales, including online purchases delivered to city addresses, until the products go through FDA reviews.
The ban is serving as a test case for a broader national fight over youth smoking and vaping. Prodded by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — an unlikely foe of anything tobacco — the Senate is weighing raising the tobacco purchasing age to 21 nationwide to discourage teen vaping and nicotine addiction. More than a dozen states, including a few conservative ones, have already raised the age.
Juul is beefing up its lobbying efforts and visibility at the federal level and in states, backing efforts to raise the minimum age to buy e-cigarettes while fighting local laws to curb the marketing of vaping products, including flavored products.
Victoria Colliver – Politico – July 9, 2019.
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