City Attorney Dennis Herrera, a co-author of the ordinance, blamed the FDA’s lack of action and regulation of e-cigarettes for the necessity of the ordinance.
“This temporary moratorium wouldn’t be necessary if the federal government had done its job. E-cigarettes are a product that, by law, are not allowed on the market without FDA review. For some reason, the FDA has so far refused to follow the law. If the federal government is going to act, San Francisco will,” she said in a statement.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has 10 days to sign the legislation and she says she will do so. Once signed, the law would begin to be enforced seven months from that date. Once law, the ordinance will hit both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce retailers who suddenly will be without the revenue of e-cigarette products. With traditional tobacco sales on the decline, San Francisco could effectively become one of–if not the–least tobacco-friendly cities in the nation for both consumers and businesses.
You can read the ordinance in its entirety here.
