Juul abandons its push to overturn vaping and e-cig ban

LIVERMORE >> Juul, the popular company that sells vaping pens, has backed out of a referendum to overturn the city’s ban of vape pens and e-cigarettes.

A note was sent to Livermore’s city clerk Thursday afternoon announcing the company was withdrawing the referendum that could have reversed a city ordinance to ban vape pens.

The note was signed by Barry Grace, a Livermore resident who started the petition, which was backed by Juul.

The referendum had qualified for the March 3 ballot, approved by the City Council in August. Now the ordinance will go into effect as planned in January, Mayor John Marchand said Thursday.

The referendum, once it qualified with enough signatures this summer, had forced the council to rescind its July ordinance prohibiting all flavored tobacco products and electronic smoking devices (such as e-cigs and vape pens) from being sold in the city.

The ordinance also bans the sale of all tobacco products within 1,000 feet of youth-populated areas, such as schools, parks with playgrounds, libraries and day care centers. It requires all current tobacco retailers to get a license and renew it annually.

Kristie Wang, along with two other Livermore women, began a grassroots effort called Flavors Addict Kids — Livermore to spread the dangers about vaping and ecigs. She said the group is pleased that the referendum was withdrawn.

“We are proud of our City Council for its courage in standing up and doing what’s right for our kids, and we can now get on with the business of getting these products out of our community and repairing the harm they caused,” she said in a statement.

E-cigarettes use aerosol, which can contain chemicals such as benzene, or others known to cause cancer, such as lead or formaldehyde, according to Contra Costa County’s Dan Peddycord, the director of public health, during a Richmond City Council meeting in July.

One pod in the popular Juul brand vaping device contains the same amount of nicotine as 20 cigarettes, he said.

Contrary to popular belief, there’s also no scientific evidence that vaping devices help people quit smoking, he said.

The U.S. surgeon general called the surge in youth e-cigarette use an “epidemic” after adults died in recent months related to vaping-related lung illnesses.