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In Addiction News
San Francisco board passes drugstore tobacco ban
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#33
 07-30-2008 05:40 AM |
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 on Tuesday to ban the sale of tobacco in pharmacies beginning this fall, making it the first U.S. city to impose such a ban, a mayor's office official said.
The measure, which was proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, amends San Francisco's health code to prohibit tobacco sales in any pharmacy, whether a small mom-and-pop store or a large retailer like Walgreens. Drugstores caught selling tobacco products in the city will be fined up to $1,000.
"A pharmacy should be a place you go to get better, not a place you go to get cancer," said Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for the mayor's office.
The citywide ban was modeled on rules enacted in eight Canadian provinces.
Similar proposals have failed this year in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Illinois and New York. San Francisco is the first city in the country to ban the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies, Ballard said.
Opponents of the ban say it puts pharmacies at a competitive disadvantage against other retailers and will do little to curb the smoking habits of San Franciscans.
In a letter to Newsom's office, Dennis Loper of the California Distributors Association wrote that the ban "limits the rights of legitimate retailers from selling a legal product."
The city's ban was supported by numerous anti-smoking and health advocacy groups, including the California Medical Association and the American Cancer Society.
Tobacco use is responsible for more than 400,000 deaths a year in the U.S. and is the leading cause of preventable death nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which also sent a letter to the city opposing the ban, did not immediately return messages seeking comment late Tuesday.
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source: Buffalo News
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