Photo by Aleksandr Yu via Shutterstock While smoking traditional cigarettes has declined, vapes – a type of electronic cigarette with chemical cartridges – are the number one tobacco-related product used by adolescents.
A lineup of various types of vaping pens. (Photo: Kevin Yuan, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Studies have shown that the availability of flavors is perhaps the single most important factor for those who successfully quit cigarettes by switching to vaping. But how do we protect our children from products that are not designed for them, while making sure adults who need those products continue to have access?
A menthol cigarette burning on an ashtray. (Photo: Kanin Sakulsillapakorn, via Shutterstock)In a closely watched election contest, San Francisco voters have upheld a first-in-the-nation ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products, overwhelmingly rejecting an $11.6 million campaign by R.J. Reynolds to scuttle the law. San Francisco officials last June approved the ban but a petition drive funded by Reynolds, the maker of the top-selling menthol brand, Newport, forced the issue onto yesterday’s ballot.
A smoker savors the vapor from an electronic cigarette, which is the focus of new legislation. (Photo:MisiArt, Shutterstock)Hang on to your hats, California smokers — a cyclone of tobacco legislation is blowing through the Golden State. Moves to crack down on electronic cigarettes, further regulate smokes in the workplace, raise the legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 years old and create new tobacco taxes all won support from the Senate health committee, the bills’ first major policy hurdle in the final weeks of the 2015 legislative session.