San Francisco Voters End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products Despite Strong Industry Opposition

Ideas and Opinions20 November 2018San Francisco Voters End the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products Despite Strong Industry OppositionY. Tony Yang, ScD, LLM, MPH and Stanton Glantz, PhDY. Tony Yang, ScD, LLM, MPHGeorge Washington University, Washington, DC (Y.T.Y.) and Stanton Glantz, PhDUniversity of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (S.G.)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M18-2317 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail On 5 June 2018, voters in San Francisco, California, defied a $12 million campaign funded almost entirely by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) and supported implementation of a law prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored vaping liquids—the first such comprehensive ban in the United States (1). The prohibition had been passed unanimously by the City's Board of Supervisors in 2017 and was originally scheduled to take effect in April 2018, but shortly after the mayor signed it into law, RJR started collecting signatures to force a referendum. The company succeeded, suspending the law ...References1. Hoffman J. San Francisco Voters Uphold Ban on Flavored Vaping Products. The New York Times. 6 June 2018:A1. Accessed at www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/health/vaping-ban-san-francisco.html on 8 August 2018. Google Scholar2. Ambrose BK, Day HR, Rostron B, Conway KP, Borek N, Hyland A, et al. Flavored tobacco product use among US youth aged 12–17 years, 2013–2014. JAMA. 2015;314:1871-3. [PMID: 26502219] doi:10.1001/jama.2015.13802 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Corey CG, Ambrose BK, Apelberg BJ, King BA. Flavored tobacco product use among middle and high school students—United States, 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015;64:1066-70. [PMID: 26421418] doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6438a2 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Hiatt RA, Sibley A, Fejerman L, Glantz S, Nguyen T, Pasick R, et al. The San Francisco Cancer Initiative: a community effort to reduce the population burden of cancer. Health Aff (Millwood). 2018;37:54-61. [PMID: 29309234] doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1260 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Perks SN, Armour B, Agaku IT. Cigarette brand preference and pro-tobacco advertising among middle and high school students – United States, 2012–2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2018;67:119-24. [PMID: 29389916] doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6704a3 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Glantz SA, Balbach ED. Tobacco War: Inside the California Battles. Berkeley: Univ California Pr; 2000. Google Scholar7. City & County of San Francisco Ethics Commission. Campaign Finance Dashboards – June 5, 2018 and November 6, 2018 Elections. Accessed at https://sfethics.org/ethics/2018/03/campaign-finance-dashboards-june-5-2018-and-november-6-2018-elections.html on 8 August 2018. Google Scholar8. Voter's Edge California. Prohibiting Tobacco Retailers from Selling Flavored Tobacco Products. Accessed at https://votersedge.org/ca/en/ballot/election/area/69/measures/measure/3131?election_authority_id=38#basics on 17 September 2018. Google Scholar9. King BA, Tynan MA, Dube SR, Arrazola R. Flavored-little-cigar and flavored-cigarette use among U.S. middle and high school students. J Adolesc Health. 2014;54:40-6. [PMID: 24161587] doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.07.033 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Chaiton M, Schwartz R, Cohen JE, Soule E, Eissenberg T. Association of Ontario's ban on menthol cigarettes with smoking behavior 1 month after implementation. JAMA Intern Med. 2018;178:710-1. [PMID: 29507934] doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.8650 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: George Washington University, Washington, DC (Y.T.Y.)University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (S.G.)Note: The funding source had no role in the conduct of the research or preparation of the manuscript.Grant Support: Dr. Glantz was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant R01DA043950.Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M18-2317.Corresponding Author: Y. Tony Yang, ScD, LLM, MPH, Professor, Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, George Washington University, 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20006; e-mail, [email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Yang: Professor, Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement, George Washington University, 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20006.Dr. Glantz: Professor, Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, 530 Parnassus Avenue, Suite 366, San Francisco, CA 94143.