By Voice & ViewPoint Newswire
Local Coalition Delivers Win for Kids Over Tobacco Industry
San Diego City Council applauded for its vote to end sale of flavored tobacco products
SAN DIEGO (April 25, 2022) – The local San Diegans vs Big Tobacco coalition today delivered a victory for kids and public health when the San Diego City Council voted to support the SAAFE Act, an ordinance to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, cigars and menthol cigarettes.
“We applaud and thank the city council, particularly councilmembers Marni von Wilpert and Jen Campbell, for their exceptional leadership in keeping young people safe and healthy by taking minty-menthol cigarettes and candy-flavored vapes off our local retail shelves for good,” said San Diegans vs. Big Tobacco Deputy Coalition Manager Aida Castaneda.
After the council’s 7-2 vote, Castaneda said the local coalition “is grateful for the strong community turnout in support of the SAAFE Act,” which was crafted and championed by a broad group of parents, physicians, politicians, family advocates and people from neighborhoods across the city “that came out in force to work incredibly hard to push through this legislation.”
The San Diegans vs. Big Tobacco campaign, working along with nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “is extremely proud to partner with the many organizations and individuals that have been spearheading the effort to protect San Diegans from dangerous, addictive flavored nicotine products,” said Castaneda.
These coalition members include: the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Academy of Pediatrics, Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes, African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, San Diego County Medical Society, SAY San Diego, San Ysidro Health Centers, San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air, Family Health Centers of San Diego, Sierra Club San Diego Chapter and others.
San Diego is the latest to join the growing list of more than 100 cities and counties across California, including San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento and Long Beach, that are cracking down on the sale of flavored tobacco products.
San Diegans vs. Big Tobacco’s Castaneda said the local coalition will continue pushing in the months ahead to get ordinances adopted by Chula Vista and other cities across the San Diego region.
“Our wor
kisn’t over,”she said. “More ordinances in more cities are critical to reverse the worsening youth e-cigarette epidemic and stop tobacco companies from using appealing flavors to lure kids into a lifetime of addiction.”
Flavors like cool mint, gummy bear, strawberry lemonade and chocolate improve the taste and mask the harshness of tobacco products, introducing new users to a potential lifetime of addiction in a more approachable way. These flavors can be found in flavored tobacco products of all kinds, including e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars and more.
The latest data shows that over 2 million kids used e-cigarettes in 2021, according to 2021 National YouthTobacco Survey, and 85% of them use flavored tobacco products. Locally, one in four San Diego high school students use e-cigarettes.
For more information about the coalition and its ongoing campaign to end the sales of flavored tobacco, visit the campaign’s website at sandiegansvsbigtobacco.org or follow along on Twitter at @sdvsbigtobacco.
 – The local San Diegans vs Big Tobacco coalition today delivered a victory for kids and public health when the San Diego City Council voted to support the SAAFE Act, an ordinance to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, cigars and menthol cigarettes.){kind=link}