An incredible piece of legislation has been passed in the USA, which will see a San Francisco vaping ban. After a second vote on Tuesday, the city is set to introduce a law which will see a ban on the sale of vaping products. The new legislation comes amid concerns of youth vaping however cigarettes will remain on shelves.
Why will San Francisco ban vaping?
In the USA, reports claim that there is a ‘vaping epidemic’ which apparently needs to be addressed. Policy makers are taking drastic measures in the States and a school in Nebraska is even subjecting pupils to nicotine tests. However, there’s seems to be no such problem in the UK.
Vaping restrictions are already in place in San Francisco and people must be at least 21 years old to buy e-cigarettes. This must not be enough for supervisors in the city as they have now voted to completely ban the sale of the products for all ages.
The San Francisco vaping ban has been approved by a preliminary and deciding vote and could be enforced within the next few weeks. The bill must be approved and signed by the mayor, who has already indicated that she will do so. The bill could then become effective in just 30 days.
Quite incredibly, the ban will not cover tobacco products. So as a less harmful alternative is removed from San Francisco shelves, cancer causing cigarettes will remain available to buy. At best, this is counter-productive and at worst, it’s utterly disgraceful. Whilst this new law may combat youth vaping, it could ultimately have drastic consequences.
Consequences of the ban
The effect this ban will have on the young people – who these policy makers are apparently trying to protect – could in fact be a negative one. This group of vapers will no doubt be seeking an alternative to their prohibited item. So, what would they move to?
My guess would be cigarettes, a much more harmful option which kill 40,000 Californians each year. Whilst cigarettes may be age restricted, young people will undoubtedly still get their hands on them. Basically, this law could be – perhaps unwittingly, perhaps not – pushing young people to smoke.
There’s also the very real potential of a vaping black market opening up. Unregulated, unlicensed products is not good for any industry and could result in counterfeit and dangerous product distribution.
Whilst the youth populaution of the country is the primary concern, there’s also the hundreds of thousands of smoking and vaping adults to think of. Many San Francisco residents have taken the pro-active approach of switching to vaping to improve their health.
Whilst they would still be allowed to vape, they would have to travel away from San Francisco to buy vaping goods. This group is therefore now having their saving grace all but taken away from them, potentially forcing them back to smoking.
Furthermore, the smoking adults who may have switched to vaping in the future have now had the option of a safer alternative snatched away from them. The only real beneficiaries of this ban looks to be tobacco giants, who will see vapers return to buying their most profitable product, cigarettes.