Belmont to explore flavored tobacco rules

Councilmembers were open to a potential ban on flavored tobacco at a meeting on Sept. 25 but, at this point, the plan is to conduct research and identify potential next steps.

“Everyone knows that vaping and e-cigarettes have really big public health implications,” Kim said, referencing a recent report by the Centers of Disease Control that found a 900 percent increase in e-cigarette use among high schoolers in the last five years. That report characterized the use of e-cigarettes among teens as an epidemic with no signs of abating, he added. “And as I said I’m tired of hearing about restrooms at Carlmont High School being closed because kids are vaping in them constantly and I want to do something about that.”

The subcommittee, which consists of Kim and Vice Mayor Davina Hurt, will meet with staff, members of the county’s tobacco cessation program, residents and business owners moving forward.

“We want to reach out to all stakeholders on both sides of this,” Kim said.

A few of those stakeholders spoke during the meeting.

“Banning the flavors would put me out of business completely,” said Hani Tannous, owner of Belmont Vape, the only vape shop in town. “I have a lease and products, what do I do with all that?

“I’m a small business here to instruct people on vaping as an alternative to traditional cigarettes,” he continued. “There are a lot of studies that children are using it, but there’re also many more adults that are using it to stop smoking traditional cigarettes.”

Tannous referenced studies that found e-cigarettes are 95 percent safer than traditional cigarettes. He affirmed that he doesn’t sell to minors and said all of his products are taxed at 68.8 percent.

“So there is money there for enforcement,” he said.

Representatives with tobacco prevention organizations also spoke at the meeting and summarized some of the research on flavored tobacco products.

Greg Wingate, a public health educator with the San Mateo County Tobacco Prevention Program, said research is pointing to the flavors — which include sour gummy worms, cotton candy and unicorn poop — as one of the top reasons why youth use these tobacco products in the first place. He referenced a survey that found 1.7 million high school students and 390,000 middle school students use e-cigarettes, and listed a few of the dangers.

“There are several studies that have found less carcinogens in e-cigarette aerosol compared to traditional cigarette smoke, but the aerosol from e-cigarettes still has been found to contain at least 10 chemicals that are on the California Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm,” he said, adding that the “juices” used in these devices are potentially deadly to young children if ingested orally or if it even touches their skin. “There’s concern that e-cigarette use may increase the likelihood of using traditional cigarettes in the future, which would take us back in terms of how far we’ve come in reducing tobacco smoke from traditional cigarettes.”

Amanda Gutzwiller from the American Lung Association said four of five kids who use tobacco started with a flavored product.

“It’s important for us to prevent the next generation of smokers,” she said. “It’s still a problem. It’s still something we need to work to combat. ... We encourage cities like Belmont to ban these products and protect our youth.”

She also mentioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 banned flavored cigarettes, but the ban did not include menthol or tobacco products like e-cigarettes.

The council agreed to form a subcommittee to research the issue and potential regulations in part to limit the amount of time staff would have to devote to the effort.

Councilwoman Julia Mates wanted to learn what schools are currently doing about the problem, and Hurt suggested the subcommittee look into online sales of flavored tobacco because that’s where some kids seem to be buying the products.

“If we dig deeper we just don’t want children vaping at all so getting beyond the whole flavored aspect, how do we get the vaping out of the hands of children,” Hurt said. “So this could be bigger than a flavored ban.”

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors banned flavor tobacco products in the unincorporated parts of the county over the summer.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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