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KPBS Midday Edition

San Diego County Considers Banning Vaping Products

A man exhales while smoking an e-cigarette in Portland, Maine, in this undated file photo.
Robert F. Bukaty AP
A man exhales while smoking an e-cigarette in Portland, Maine, in this undated file photo.
San Diego County Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Nathan Fletcher, are proposing a temporary ban on vaping devices and flavored tobacco products in the unincorporated areas of the county. The proposal will go before the county Board of Supervisors on Oct. 15.

There have been a dozen deaths and more than 800 cases of respiratory illness connected to vaping across the country. San Diego County Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Nathan Fletcher, are proposing a temporary ban on vaping devices and flavored tobacco products in the unincorporated areas of the county to respond to the situation.

“As a county, we are leading in San Diego and calling for a ban on flavored products that target our children and a moratorium on the untested vaping devices until such time as the public health risks have been assessed,” Fletcher said.

The proposal will go before the county Board of Supervisors on Oct. 15.

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While there have been no deaths associated with vaping in the county, 22 people have been hospitalized.

RELATED: San Diego Collaborating With State, Feds Amid 12 Local Cases Of Vaping-Related Illness

County leaders hope cities in the region will enact similar bans.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, joined Midday Edition on Wednesday to discuss the proposed ban.