From April next year vape juice will be illegal to sell within the City of San Francisco. The Flavoured Tobacco Sales Restriction Ordinance bans flavours in all tobacco products without exemption.

Since the FDA's deeming rule of last year legally confers 'tobacco' status on vape, and since all vape juice is flavoured, it will not be permissible to sell any vape juice when the rule comes into effect.

Today, the BOS unanimously approved my legislation to ban the sale of flavoured tobacco in San Francisco. #FocusOnFlavours #DoItForTheKids pic.twitter.com/rmNaOnVVhG

” Malia Cohen (@MaliaCohen) June 21, 2017

Of course, this won't stop San Francisco vapers from vaping; they'll simply buy it out of town, either online or from B&Ms. I've counted fifteen vape businesses in the city which will now close pointlessly. Of course, the frightening prospect is that of a knock-on effect, with similar ordinances on the books of nearby Oakland and three other metropolitan areas in the region.

Ms Cohen's press release makes no specific mention of vape, instead focussing on Menthol as the exemplar of a "tobacco flavour", clearly implying that this is a cigarette-specific regulation. All "characterising" flavours other than menthol have already been banned from cigarettes by the Federal government, most likely because of the political toxicity of removing a flavour that is overwhelmingly favoured by African American smokers.

Indeed, the notion of "characteristic" flavours is quite interesting. The government didn't ban all flavouring; just those flavours, or quantities of flavours, that give cigarettes a characteristic taste (remember "cherry menthols"?). Similarly to e-liquid, almost all processed tobacco has some flavourings added to it.

But was this really about "tobacco tobacco"?

San Francisco is unquestionably the hotbed of anti-vape activism, principally due to the presence of Stanton Glantz and his acolytes at the UCSF. What continues to shock is the bien-pensant leftists such as Ms Cohen who accommodate this agenda.

It's an irony that the city most famed for innovation also plays host to those most vocal in opposition to one of the most important and exciting innovations of our times.

Indeed, two years ago a rare moment of clarity was captured following a legislative meeting on the SB140 taxation bill. Stanton Glantz and Philip Gardner were collared by vapers and quizzed on their motivations. The video was circulated privately at the time, but has since been made public. You may find some of the comments by Dr. Philip Gardner refreshingly honest and revealing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo9vzTAPQC0

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