San Francisco approves restrictions on the sale of e-cigarettes

American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown issued the following statement in response to the passage:

 “San Francisco has made history by becoming the first city in the nation to halt the sale of e-cigarettes, including Juul and other vape devices, until they receive FDA authorization.

“The American Heart Association is committed to ending tobacco use and nicotine addiction in this country and strongly supports San Francisco in their efforts to curb youth e-cigarette use, including the sale ban adopted earlier today. We also call for and advocate for additional research to assess whether e-cigarettes are effective at getting cigarette users to quit, and to assess whether e-cigarettes make it more likely for youth to transition to smoking.

“The proliferation of e-cigarette use has skyrocketed, especially among youth and teens, increasing by 48% among middle school students and 78% among high school students from 2017 to 2018 alone. Many adolescents believe these products are safe, and many teens don’t even realize they contain nicotine. When asked about what is in their e-cigarette, 66% said just flavoring. In reality, the addictive nicotine in one Juul pod is equivalent to approximately 20 cigarettes.

“The human brain is still in development in youth and young adults, and younger people are more sensitive to nicotine and can become dependent more quickly.

“It has become exceedingly clear that the tobacco industry is once again working to build a whole new generation of youth addicted to their products. Today, San Francisco has taken a bold step to protect the public, especially children and youth, from the health harms of nicotine addiction and tobacco use.”