I feel like I keep repeating myself. Last month, I wrote that Government Thinks You are Fat and Stupid and so they need to set hard rules to keep all of us lemmings from walking off cliffs. In that article, I discussed proposals by the state of California to further regulate and tax sugary beverages (something we already have to deal with here in San Francisco) in the name of public health.
This time, it’s The City here to tell you how stupid you are.
Dennis Herrera’s office and Supervisor Walton are set to introduce legislation that will make Juul and the vape industry in San Francisco go up in smoke.
This past June, the voters approved an ordinance to ban the sale of flavored tobacco in The City, for the sake of the children. Pleased with their victory, the supes have set their sights on vaping next.
Soda and tobcacco products aren't good for you, we all know that. But, many things are bad for you. Adults are able to make decisions for themselves, and parents are able to set their own rules and help their children make good decisions.
The move is purportedly not a ban on e-cigarettes as a whole; only those which have not been approved by the FDA (which of course is all of them). That’s obviously a pointless distinction if your concern is children vaping, though. When is the last time you heard a young person ask “is this FDA approved?” (or anyone, for that matter).
E-cigarette sales are already prohibited to anyone under 21 under state law, anyway, so this proposal should be seen for what it is—a ban on adults in San Francisco making decisions for themselves.
For a city that is so pro-choice on women’s issues (“My body, my choice”), it sure doesn’t seem to care much about other choices that one might make.
If this political grandstanding goes any further, I hope you will join me to protest. Get Government out of our lives!