Laserfiche WebLink
6.H. -Page 13 of 16 <br />Diane Howard, Mayor <br />Shelly Masur, Vice Mayor <br />Alicia C. Aguirre, Council Member <br />Ian Bain, Council Member <br />Janet Borgens, Council Member <br />Giselle Hale, Council Member <br />Diana Reddy, Council Member <br />June 8, 2020 <br />The Honorable Jerry Hill <br />California State Senate, District 13 <br />State Capitol Room 5035 <br />Sacramento, CA 95814 <br />Redwood <br />CityI California <br />City Fowded 1861 <br />1 <br />RE: SB 793 (Hill) Flavored Tobacco Products—Support <br />Dear Senator Hill: <br />1017 Middlefield Road <br />Redwood City, CA 94063 <br />(650) 780-7301 <br />Fax(650)780-7225 <br />On behalf of the City of Redwood City we are pleased to support SB 793, which would prohibit a <br />tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco retailer's agents or employees, from selling, offering for sale, or <br />possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale a flavored tobacco product or a tobacco product <br />flavor enhancer. <br />Youth usage of flavored tobacco products has exploded recently. Fueled by kid friendly flavors like <br />cotton candy and bubblegum, 3.6 million more middle and high school students started using e - <br />cigarettes in 2018. The disturbing rates of teen e -cigarette use continued to rise in 2019 with the <br />overwhelming majority of youth citing use of popular fruit and menthol or mint flavors. <br />In the last two years alone, e -cigarette use among young people surged by 135% and there are now <br />5.3 million young Americans who use e -cigarettes regularly. Eighty percent of young people who have <br />ever used tobacco started with a flavored product. By prohibiting the sale of these products, the state <br />is doing its part to ensure the health and wellness of California's youth. <br />The Redwood City Council has discussed imposing a local ordinance restricting the sale of flavored <br />tobacco products within our jurisdiction. SB 793 respects our local authority by specifying that local <br />agencies may still impose a greater restriction on the access of tobacco products than the provisions <br />in this bill. By setting the floor with SB 793 your measure encourages local agencies like ours to take <br />action if stronger provisions are needed. For those reasons we are pleased to support SB 793. <br />=1 <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcitV.org <br />322 <br />