Voters in San Francisco have resoundingly rejected an attempt to overturn a citywide ban on e-cigarettes[1] by a margin of around 80:20.
Reporting on the count in the Bay Area, CBS SF[2] says at least 78 per cent of voters rejected the ballot measure, known as Proposition C.
The measure had been heavily back by e-cigarette maker Juul[3] — until just over a month ago[4]. It is reported to have spent at least $10M promoting the attempt to flip the ban, before withdrawing its support at the end of September as part of a company-wider review under new CEO[5], K.C. Crosthwaite, that’s also seen between 10-15% of its workforce lay off[6].
The 2017-founded company, which has raised some $14.4BN in funding to date per Crunchbase[7], has faced trenchant criticism over the level of youth usage of its products.
In a statement[8] responding to the Prop C vote, San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera attacks Juul — dubbing the company “Big Tobacco” — and writing: “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.”
We’ve reached out to Juul for comment. Update: A company spokesman told us:
As previously announced, Juul Labs...