With a vote of eight to three, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has put the city on the path to becoming the first in the U.S. to ban the sale of tobacco products in drugstores.
The ordinance, which was initially proposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, will ban the sale of tobacco in chain and independent drugstores while allowing supermarkets, mass merchants and warehouse clubs with pharmacies to continue selling the products.
Nathan Ballard, a spokesperson for Mr. Newsom, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "A pharmacy is a place you should go to get better, not to get cancer."
Mr. Ballard said the city would look at expanding the ban after reviewing the drugstore experience. The ban, pending any legal challenges, will go into effect on Oct. 1.
Supervisors who voted against the measure argued that it unfairly penalized drugstores. "I don't see the value in driving tobacco consumers to corner stores where they aren't going to have access to smoking-cessation products," said Supervisor Bevan Dufty.
Drugstore chains Rite Aid and Walgreens also objected to the ban.
"We believe this is about customer choice and the right of customers to find products in our stores," Cheryl Slavinsky, a Rite Aid spokesperson, told the Chronicle.
San Francisco's public health director Mitch Katz, who helped in drafting the legislation, said it made sense to start with drugstores and then expand it to other channels.
"We teach our children that supermarkets and wholesale stores are places you go to buy everything," he said. "When it comes to pharmacies, I feel that our children and our teenagers get a different message."
Discussion Question: What is your reaction to San Francisco's ban on drugstore sales of tobacco products? Do you see wisdom in the decision to begin the ban in the drugstore channel? Is similar legislation likely to be drafted in other communities or is this just another legal aberration coming out of San Francisco?