San Francisco has become the first major US city to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes.
The city’s board of supervisors approved the landmark legislative change on Tuesday, banning the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes until they have approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
Other cities in the United States have already moved to ban flavoured e-cigarettes, and raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21, but San Francisco’s approach is the most far-reaching yet.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who spearheaded the move earlier this year, praised the move and said it was necessary because of what he called an “abdication of responsibility” by the FDA in regulating e-cigarettes.
“This lack of clarity is causing tremendous confusion at the same time that a whole new generation of young people are getting addicted to nicotine,” Herrera told Reuters.
“The explosion in youth use and the health risks to young people are undeniable.”
Supporters said they hope the legislation will curb under-age use of the vapourisers, but critics say the ban will make it harder for adults to purchase an alternative to regular cigarettes.
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs, which is based in San Francisco and has grown to be the dominant e-cigarette maker in the United States, has been at the centre of the debate. As its sales soared over the last two years, so did its popularity among under age teenagers.
Official data last year showed a 78% increase in e-cigarette use among US secondary school students, Reuters reported.
As a result, law-makers have been grappling with how to regulate Juul and other similar products.
San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton, who sponsored the ban, said he has been constantly hearing from young people about e-cigarettes and “how readily available they are in schools, the fact that they’re easily hidden from educators”.
Reacting to Tuesday’s vote, Juul spokesman Ted Kwong said the ban “will drive former adult smokers who successfully switched to vapour products back to deadly cigarettes, deny the opportunity to switch for current adult smokers, and create a thriving black market instead of addressing the actual causes of underage access and use.”
He said the company has already taken steps to prevent underage use and has proposals of its own to prevent sales to minors in the city.
Juul, in which Marlboro maker Altria Group has a 35% stake, has pulled popular flavours such as mango and cucumber from retail store shelves and shut down its social media channels on Instagram and Facebook.
The company is working on a ballot initiative that would regulate but not ban e-cigarette sales.
FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum declined to comment on the San Francisco ban, but said the agency is “committed to continuing to tackle the troubling epidemic of e-cigarette use among kids”, including limiting access to flavoured e-cigarettes and cracking down on companies and retailers who sell to minors.
E-cigarettes are generally thought to be safer than traditional cigarettes, which kill up to half of all lifetime users, according to the World Health Organisation.
However, the long-term health effects of the nicotine devices remain largely unknown.
As it stands, the e-cigarette ban will go into effect early next year, according to the city attorney’s office, and will apply to both online and brick-and-mortar sales in San Francisco.