Herrera statement on voters rejecting Juul’s ballot measure

San Francisco voters are too smart to be fooled by Juul.

Supervisor Shamann Walton and City Attorney Dennis Herrera at a press conference in March announcing a package of legislation to curb youth addiction to nicotine.

SAN FRANCISCO (Nov. 5, 2019) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera today issued the following statement after election returns showed that Proposition C, Juul’s attempt to rewrite San Francisco’s pioneering e-cigarette regulations, was soundly defeated:

“San Francisco voters are too smart to be fooled by Juul. Juul is Big Tobacco, and it’s using a classic ploy from the Big Tobacco playbook to try and hook another generation of kids on nicotine. Voters saw right through Juul’s deception. San Francisco already has the toughest e-cigarette regulations in the nation. By law, e-cigarettes must undergo FDA review to ensure they are safe for public health. Complete FDA review and you can sell your product here. If you don’t, you can’t. It’s that simple. If the FDA can’t verify that these products are safe, then they don’t belong on store shelves. The U.S. Surgeon General has warned that we are in the midst of a youth vaping epidemic. Juul spent millions trying to mislead San Franciscans and rewrite the rules to benefit itself before realizing that was a fool’s errand. It could have put that time and effort into completing the required FDA review. If Juul had done that the day Supervisor Shamann Walton and I introduced our e-cigarette legislation back in March, Juul would have had its answer from the FDA by now. Perhaps FDA review is a test that Juul is afraid it can’t pass.”

Additional information is available on the City Attorney’s website at: www.sfcityattorney.org.

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