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Ordinance amending Title 8, Chapter 8.50 and Title 20, Chapter 20.420, and adding Title 6, Chapter 6.47, of the South San Francisco Municipal Code pertaining to sale of tobacco, flavored tobacco, and electronic smoking devices
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WHEREAS, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 480,000 people die each year in the United States due to smoking, and more than 16 million people are living with disease caused by smoking;1 and
WHEREAS, studies have shown that electronic smoking devices contain high levels of toxic chemicals; and
WHEREAS, the Surgeon General has reported a more than an 900% increase in the use of electronic smoking devices among middle school and high school students between 2011 and 2015;2 and
WHEREAS, the liquid nicotine solutions consumed in electronic smoking devices are marketed in a variety of flavors that appeal to youth including cotton candy, bubble gum, and fruit; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Surgeon General have stated that flavored tobacco products in electronic smoking devices help establish smoking habits in youth that can lead to long-term addiction;3 and
WHEREAS, traditional tobacco products including cigarettes, cigarillos, and chewing tobacco are also sold in flavors (such as menthol and wintergreen) that appeal to young people, with data from the National Youth Tobacco survey indicating that over two-fifths of U.S. middle school and high school smokers report using flavored cigarillos or flavored cigarettes; and
WHEREAS, a local prohibition against the sale of flavored tobacco products and against the sale of all electronic smoking devices is an effective means to reduce the availability of these products to youth, thereby protecting the public health by discouraging tobacco initiation and continued use; and
WHEREAS, State law contains various tobacco control laws including: the prohibition against the sale or furnishing of tobacco produc...
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