San Diego’s proposed ban on flavored tobacco unpopular with neighborhood market owners – The San Diego Union-Tribune

SAN DIEGO

San Diegos proposed ban on flavored tobacco and flavored e-cigarettes is stirring up controversy among both staunch supporters of such bans and dozens of neighborhood markets that would be hurt financially.

Ban supporters say the citys proposal doesnt go far enough because it wouldnt ban menthol cigarettes, synthetic nicotine or tobacco-derived e-liquids that dont contain tobacco leaf.

Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who is spearheading the proposed legislation, has vowed to add those elements to the ban before the full council votes on it in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the Neighborhood Market Association and many individual store operators say the ban would significantly damage their businesses, contending customers who buy flavored tobacco also support markets by purchasing other products when they visit.

They also say removing flavored tobacco from local markets and liquor stores wont eliminate demand for the products, sparking a black market and sharply increasing internet sales of the products.

There are federal and state laws prohibiting shipment of tobacco products and requiring signatures of someone at least 21 for delivery, but critics say young people are often able to get over such hurdles.

San Diegos consideration of a flavored tobacco ban comes with a statewide ban in limbo for the next nine months.

The state Legislature banned flavored tobacco and menthol cigarettes in 2020, but the tobacco industry gathered enough signatures to postpone the ban until California voters can weigh in at the polls Nov. 8.

Local market owners say San Diego should let state voters decide the issue instead of taking local action.

More than 100 cities and counties in California have passed their own bans in lieu of state action, including San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland and Long Beach.

Locally, bans have been passed by Imperial Beach, Encinitas, Solana Beach and San Diego County. The county ban affects all unincorporated areas, but it does not affect cities.

Von Wilpert proposed a ban for San Diego at Wednesdays meeting of the councils Public Safety Committee, but testimony by dozens of neighborhood market operators prevented the committee from taking a vote before some members had to leave.

Von Wilpert said she plans to have the proposal, including the amendment she has promised to make, advance directly to council for a vote sometime soon. Following the lead of the state, von Wilpert plans to exclude hookahs from her proposed ban.

She said a ban is crucial to helping keep young people away from flavored tobacco and vaping, which can harm brain development, promote nicotine addiction, cause severe lung damage and lead to lung transplants in rare cases.

Janan Moein, a local college student, said he experienced problems with flavored tobacco in high school.

When I was only a teenager, I suffered two collapsed lungs and was put on a ventilator as a result of vaping products sold in San Diego, he told the Public Safety Committee on Wednesday.

While teen usage has decreased since California moved the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21 six years ago, von Wilpert said there is still cause for concern.

The county Office of Education in 2019 found that more than a quarter of high school juniors in the region had tried vaping.

The Neighborhood Market Association, an advocacy group for local markets, said there is no data showing retailers are the source of young people getting tobacco. The group also criticized the city for not contacting the association while the proposal was being crafted.

San Diegos proposed ban was endorsed Wednesday by Shirley Weber, Californias secretary of state, and Sabrina Bazzo, a member of the San Diego Unified School Board.

Flavored tobacco products include any tobacco product which emits a taste or smell other than that of tobacco, including but not limited to a taste or smell relating to fruit, mint, wintergreen, chocolate, candy, cocoa, vanilla, dessert, alcoholic beverage or spice.

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San Diego's proposed ban on flavored tobacco unpopular with neighborhood market owners - The San Diego Union-Tribune