Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a pack of bills that will raise the smoking age in California from 18 to 21, restrict the use of electronic cigarettes in public places and expand no-smoking areas at public schools.
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Brown did not comment on the other bills that he signed, but state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) said approval of his bill raising the smoking age will save lives.
“The governor’s signature on Tobacco 21 is a signal that California presents a united front against Big Tobacco," Hernandez said in a statement. "Together, we stand to disrupt the chain of adolescent addiction."
The package of bills was touted as the “most expansive” effort to control tobacco use in the state in more than a decade. The bills were backed by a coalition of medical groups including the American Heart Assn, American Lung Assn., American Cancer Society and the California Medical Assn.
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“California took a step backwards today by reclassifying vapor products as tobacco,” the group said in a statement. “Stigmatizing vapor products, which contain no tobacco, and treating them the same as combustible tobacco while actively seeking to economically penalize smokers attempting to switch is counterproductive to public health.”
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Brown’s signature makes California the second state in the nation to raise the tobacco age to 21, following Hawaii. Hernandez authored the bill in an effort to reduce the number of young people who start smoking.
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Under other legislation signed by the governor, electronic cigarettes are considered to be tobacco products and cannot be used in restaurants, theaters, bars and other places where smoking has long been banned. They also cannot be marketed to minors.
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“The e-cigarette is nothing more than a new delivery system for toxic and addictive nicotine,” Leno said Wednesday. “Ensuring that e-cigarettes fall under California’s comprehensive smoke-free laws is critical to protecting public health, especially given the alarming rate at which young people are picking up these devices."
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Other measures signed by the governor will:
— Close loopholes in the ban on smoking in workplaces to include warehouses, gambling clubs, motel lobbies, covered parking lots and other public areas left out of the existing law.
— Expand the tobacco-free campus law to include more areas of charter schools and public school facilities and offices.
— Raise the licensing fee for tobacco retailers from a one-time $100 charge per location to $265 annually, and boost the annual fee for distributors and wholesalers from $1,000 to $1,200 to better cover the state’s enforcement costs.
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More:
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-p...504-story.html
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