Solana Beach to ban flavored tobacco sales

NORTH COUNTY

SOLANA BEACH

To curb the growing number of children hooked on nicotine, the Solana Beach City Council unanimously approved an ordinance last week to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

The ordinance is pending a second reading, likely at the council’s next meeting, and would take effect 30 days later. Stores that sell tobacco products in Solana Beach would then have six months to discontinue sales of flavored tobacco.

“The statistics obviously are quite troubling with regard to the increase in tobacco use among our youth, especially with flavored tobacco products,” Solana Beach Mayor Jewel Edson said during the council’s Feb. 26 meeting.

According to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention data from 2018, more than 1 in 4 high school students and 1 in 14 middle school students had used a tobacco product over the past 30 days, a trend exacerbated by increased e-cigarettes and similar products. Many of them are sold in flavors that are enticing to children, such as cherry, strawberry and banana, packaged in wrappers that resemble candy.

In the United States as of Jan. 21, the CDC reported 2,711 cases of hospitalization from lung complications caused by e-cigarettes and vaping, including 60 deaths. The CDC has also noted a decline in emergency-room visits caused by e-cigarettes in vaping over the last few months, likely due to a greater public awareness of the dangers.

The city of Solana Beach already has prohibitions in place for smoking in certain parts of the city. The city will become part of a growing list of California localities to restrict flavored tobacco sales, including Los Angeles and San Diego counties, San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento.

Nine public speakers at the council meeting said they supported the flavored tobacco ban, including two high school students who said many of their classmates use puff bars or other devices.