By Christin Evans, HANC Board Member

HANC's monthly (except August) general membership meeting is usually held downstairs at the Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street (between Cole and Shrader) on the second Thursday of the month, beginning at 7 pm.  Our meetinngs are open to the public and free to attend.

You probably have seen an onslaught of mail already about this controversial November ballot measure.  At our next meeting, HANC members will hear from both sides about Measure C which seeks to overturn the ban placed on e-Cigarette products by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

Voters had previously supported a June 2018 measure, proposition E, to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products seen as largely favored by younger users including teens.  That ban was passed by voters by more than 68% of the vote. And merchants were given 6 months to liquidate their stock before the flavor ban went into effect January 1 this year.

Emboldened by overwhelming support of E, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted in June to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes also known as e-Cigs.  Our elected Supervisors cited their reasons for supporting the ban: e-Cigarettes are not yet approved by the FDA, they are relatively new products and the long-term effects on public health is largely unknown.

But that meant the industry would respond and so they have with a largely corporate funded campaign which has enlisted the assistance of several lobbyist and public relations firms to fight for a win at the ballot box overturning the ban this November.

HANC has invited and has received confirmation that representatives from both the Yes and No sides will attend to give brief presentations of their arguments on the measure’s pros and cons.  We will leave time for questions and HANC will take member motions to support, oppose or abstain from a position on the measure. The decision of the group will be published in the October newsletter right before the vote-by-mail ballots are sent out.