San Fransisco has become the first American city to ban stores from selling e-cigarettes and vapes. It is now also illegal for online businesses to deliver to any address in the city now that the ban has been passed.
The Californian city however is also home to Juul Labs, America’s most popular e-cigarette. As reported by BBC News, Juul has said this move will only force e-smokers to revert back to smoking conventional cigarettes and will contribute to creating a thriving black market.
London Breed, the Mayor of San Franciso, has indicated that she has 10 days to sign off the legislation banning e-cigarettes and fully intends to do so. The law will then be enforced seven months after being passed.
Anti-vaping activists maintain that firms often deliberately target young people by offering flavoured products.
South Africa recently introduced new smoking laws of its own, which received negative backlash from many. These laws include:
– No smoking in places like restaurants, offices and malls where there is no isolated, sealed off smoking room.
– Smoking in locations used for commercial childcare activities, for schools or teaching/tutoring such as crèches is banned.
– Tobacco companies are not allowed to advertise, hold parties or use marketing to target the youth.
– Cigarettes are not be sold individually.
The country has also been divided on the topic of vaping, as many studies have indicated it is not as healthy as first thought.
In 2017, IOL reported that the executive director of the National Council Against Smoking, Savera Kalideen, said vaping should not be compared to cigarettes.
“Should all smokers move to harm-reduced vaping products, the impact is bound to be extremely positive from a non-communicable diseases point of view. It is our duty to ensure we provide a safer alternative to the millions of smokers in the country,” Kalideen said.
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