San Jose to vote on flavored tobacco ban

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- San Jose City Council will vote on Tuesday whether or not to ban flavored tobacco, the city said in a press release.

If San Jose passes this, the city will join Oakland and San Francisco as Bay Area cities with bans in place to get rid of these products, including vapes at smoke shops.

There are currently 100 cities in California that ban flavored tobacco.

That is one issue.

The other issue is San Jose will also vote on making it illegal to smoke those tobacco products inside apartment complexes with three or more units.

The reason why they are doing this, the city as well as health officials say, is the effect it has on teenagers.

They said when teenagers are introduced to smoking, usually it is through flavored tobacco products because they're tasty like cotton candy. Teenagers also say they taste like fruit as opposed to conventional cigarettes.

Vape makes it even easier for teenagers to consume, which is why the city wants to remove this from the store shelves.

If it is passed, it will not take effect immediately.

The city will give retailers six months to make adjustments to get flavored tobacco off their shelves and to find other ways to make money in place of those products.

Also, if it is passed, San Jose will not allow new smoke shops within 1,000 feet of schools and parks.

City officials say flavored tobacco is bad for teenagers, but they also think it disproportionally hits the Black and Latino communities harder compared to other communities.

In the meantime, Gov. Gavin Newsom is looking to make flavored tobacco a statewide ban. If passed, of course, the tobacco industry will be fighting back against that.

from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3oaxYVk