--- title: "San Francisco Moves to Ban Sale of E-Cigarettes" description: "In a landmark move, San Francisco just became the first U.S. city to ban e-cigarettes last night. The bill could go into effect in 30 days." date: "2019-06-26" modified: "2019-06-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/san-francisco-officially-bans-sale-ecigarettes" categories: - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "e-cigarettes" - "juul" - "juul labs" - "san francisco" - "the digest" --- # San Francisco Moves to Ban Sale of E-Cigarettes ![In a landmark move, San Francisco just became the first U.S. city to ban e-cigarettes last night. The bill could go into effect in 30 days.]() *\Image: Vaping360 via Flickr/Victor Tangermann\* ## E-Cigarette Ban In a landmark move, San Francisco just became the first U.S. city to ban e-cigarettes last night. The bill will go into effect 30 days after the mayor signs it — mayor London Breed has already [indicated she will]() — and start being enforced seven months after that. “We spent the ’90s battling Big Tobacco and now we see the new form in e-cigarettes,” Supervisor Shamann Walton, who co-authored the bill [told the *San Francisco Chronicle*](). “I’m not going to put the profits of Big Tobacco over the health of young people.” It will also have to be run through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and that might not happen until 2022, [the deadline]() the FDA issued to e-cigarette companies. ## Up in Smoke The controversial and unprecedented move has plenty of critics. Chief among them is Juul, the biggest seller of e-cigarette products in the U.S., who also calls the city their home. A separate bill, seemingly aimed at companies like Juul, also bars any e-cigarette company from renting space on company-owned land. Juul however would still be permitted to move into their new high-rise in San Francisco as that bill isn't retroactive. Juul has already been looking to overturn the ruling. With enough signatures, the company could overrule the Board of Supervisors' legislation in November, as the [*Chronicle* points out](). ## Big Tobacco Tobacco cigarettes are still kicking around, despite the ban. "On the face of it, it’s ludicrous that we would ban e-cigarettes, but permit the sale of tobacco and cannabis,” Steven A. Schroeder, professor of health at the University of California, San Francisco [told *The New York Times*](). "It’s really smart politics but dubious public health." **READ MORE:** [San Francisco Bans Sale of Juul and Other E-Cigarettes]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on smoking:** *[Gene-Edited, Less Addictive Tobacco Could Help You Quit Smoking]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()