By Tony Hicks – The Walnut Creek City Council will consider banning the sale of favored tobacco and electronic smoking devices within city limits.
The move is aimed at young smokers, attracted to flavored products for electronic vaping. A staff report for Tuesday’s meeting quotes United States Centers for Disease Control statistics saying smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. (more than 480,000 annually). It also says nearly nine out of every 10 adult smokers try smoking by the age of 18.
The city’s ban would be more restrictive than current federal and state laws, though it would provide an exemption for adult-only hookah tobacco businesses. The ordnance would include a five-month enforcement delay to allow retailers to comply with the new restrictions.
The city would be following Contra Costa County, who reaffirmed its 2019 ban restricting the sale of flavored vaping products and electronic devices in July. That ordnance only covers the county’s unincorporated areas.
Both the county and the Mount Diablo School District have urged local cities to enact their own bans.
Similar bans are already in place in Lafayette, Dublin, and South San Francisco.
The council meets at 6 p.m. tonight at the council chamber, 1666 North Main Street, in Walnut Creek. To watch the meeting online, go to www.zoom.us (webinar 831 8185 5375, passcode 395987. The meeting can also be accessed by phone, at 1-669-900-6833.
This is important? Evidently, we can ignore all the crimes going on like shootings, murders, etc.
Dob’t forget all the closed good businesses and the lousy ones that stay open
glorified take out with inept hiring, poor customer service and sloppy cut backs on food. Thinking no one notices.
PF Changs Hickory Pit Tomatina and California Pizza Kitchen are an example of what should be closed down..
Those are already illegal in Walnut Creek. What new law would you propose?
Maybe the city council should concentrate on banning shoplifting, people shooting each other at restaurants and repairing potholes. As it is you can vape marijuana and that’s totally healthy and legal, but flavored tobacco is the end of the world.
+1
+2
It’s already a done deal.
“Considering” is just word they use to make people believe they will actually debate an issue.
In reality, the silver has crossed the palms, the agreement has been sanctioned.
Your government thinks the masses are simple fools.
+1
Cellophane—
You say that it’s a done deal and the silver has
already crossed the palms. What group or groups
would be bribing the City Council to enact these
smoking prohibitions? It certainly isn’t big tobacco.
Read the attached article and see if you think it’s
still a bad idea for the council.
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/issues/e-cigarettes
Shoulda Coulda
Where did I say the ordinance was a bad idea?
I believe an apology is in order.
These are the things that make you wonder. Ban cigarettes but open pot shops. Somewhere our world took a left turn.
Let’s make sure we also have safe injection sites, crikey, the world (CCC) has lost the plot, if not the POT!
Wow…considering a ban on flavored tobacco yet turn a blind eye to marijuana. Never thought I’d see the day. Talk about warped thinking.
@Caskydiver: marijuana is much safer than flavored tobacco. It’s not even in the same ballpark.
Cask: Me either!! I have personally experienced and seen the horrible things that pot smoking has caused. Absolutely nothing good has ever come out of continued use of this poison. Millions of lives ruined and needless deaths related to the other drugs that this stupid weed has lead to. If Pot use and sale had been severely punished 40 years ago the number of Drug Overdoses occurring these days would only be about 20% of what they currently are. So very sad!
@greg Please cite a scientific source for such an absurd claim and I don’t mean “High Times.”
We need magic mushrooms! They cure everything!🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄
You’ve got to step back from the week-to-week trajectory on the regulation of nicotine delivery to see the full stupid/corrupt dynamic in all its glory.
E-cigarettes come along, with unbelievable potential to improve the health of people addicted to cigarettes. What does the FDA do? Freak out about kids getting hooked on e-cigs and the possibility that they will move to regular cigs, asserted (falsely) that only kids like flavors, and then they scaremongered the public into thinking that e-cigs are equally dangerous as cigarettes. So JUUL gets basically taken off the market forcibly.
Now, in 2021, we finally have an FDA-approved e-cig. MADE BY RJ REYNOLDS. Yes, Big Tobacco wins out. That’s what the regulatory state has accomplished here – needlessly quashing a good development, only to come around to it later when it enriches the big incumbents.
The WC thing seems symbolic. People can buy them anywhere. Sadly, I was one of the people who thought that E-cigs would be a good tool for people who were trying to quit smoking. The early versions supposedly looked and tasted like real cigs. However, it is clear that these companies are marketing to kids and creating E-cig users who never touched a real cig. Not cool.
Would this stop any online vendors from selling to someone in town? Does council have any data to show that kids are buying these in person instead of online? If stores in town, how many actually sell them, are selling to minors why isn’t PD doing sting buys and going after the cashiers and owners?
Borrow mom & dad’s credit card, buy online, check a little box oh yeah I’m of age, and it magically shows up at your door. How does this law stop that?
Vendors of such products are knowing advertising illegal and carcinogenic products. A credit card company would not be allowed to partake in banned or controlled substances. Plain facts.
Weird, there’s dozens of sites out there that advertise vape pens for sale. Appears they only ask if you’re over 21 and they do ship to Walnut Creek zip codes. Hmmm.
ManBearPig I understand that. The Statistics do not lie. Many of these deaths would have been preventable had the knowledge been known beforehand.
What a waste of time, money (our tax money) and effort.
Take away a legal product from adults because it might harm children. Isn’t it up to the parents to teach their children? Besides, teens prefer vaping marijuana. Just ask them. If they are so concerned about harming the children what about all the flavored beers? Aren’t they worried that the children will become alcoholics?
There are no mights ifs or butts about it. The science is well established as to the long term toxic effects. Children are purposely lured by manufactures of said para ba phoneya and parents are at a loss to control this scourge on their own.