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The San Antonio City Council voted to prohibit vape and tobacco shops from opening within 1,000 feet of daycares, schools, and institutions of higher education on Thursday.
The new rule would not apply to tobacco and vape shops already within that 1,000 foot radius because of state law, and it does not apply to other stores like gas stations, which sell vape and tobacco products but whose main businesses are in other products.
Vape and tobacco shops could be opened within the prohibited radius if the city council gave them explicit permission to do so on a case-by-case basis.
The policy was first proposed by District 9 Councilmember John Courage.
He explained why he felt it was so important for the city to address by citing a National Center for Biotechnology Information study.
"The study found that many vape shots are strategically located close to schools, mirroring the tactics historically employed by the traditional tobacco industry to recruit young smokers," Courage said. "This proximity not only increases the visibility of vaping products to impressionable students, but also normalizes their use, leading to higher rates of adolescent e-cigarette consumption."
Ryan York is an 18-year-old graduate of the Rise Inspire Academy. He described what the impact of nearby vape shops was on him in middle and high school during the council's public comment period, looking back after being two years without using nicotine.
"It became a culture," he said. "When I was in high school, there was shops we knew that didn't ID, and so we would go to those, and we'd take from those. And so we would go to those and then it became us bonding over that addiction."
Daniel Dean is a retired pediatric pulmonologist who also spoke during the council's public comment period.
"E-cigarettes are not safe," Dean said. "They contain over 2,000 chemicals. They're inflammatory to the lung. The lung has a large lining, sharing the blood system, and these chemicals get into the blood and injure vital organs. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, and it also directly injures the heart, lung and brain. These vaping, prominent products should be treated the same way as tobacco products."
The new rule goes into effect immediately.
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