These are some #flavoredtobacco products purchased in stores across our city. We don't want these sold in #SF #FocusOnFlavors #StopProfiling pic.twitter.com/NZatm1capA

— Malia Cohen (@MaliaCohen) April 18, 2017

San Francisco and Oakland lawmakers are suggesting their cities ban the sale of flavored tobacco products, from mentholated cigarettes to flavored blunt wraps, cigars, and cigarillos. In San Francisco, the legislation would be another blow to the tobacco industry and its victims/customers, who must now pay $2 more per pack in San Francisco after the a new tax, passed in November, was enacted in April.

“For too long the tobacco industry has gotten a pass while they selectively target vulnerable populations with flavored tobacco products,” Supervisor Cohen, who is proposing the legislation in San Francisco, said in a press release. “Flavored tobacco hooks new smokers and makes them lifelong users. It can be more harmful and more difficult to quit than unflavored tobacco," Cohen continued. "Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, specifically cancers. This legislation will have a tremendous impact on the disturbing disparities for tobacco-related illnesses, and will reduce the number of new tobacco users that pick up the habit annually.”

SF Weekly points out the practice of restricting flavored tobacco sales wouldn't be completely new to the Bay Area. Berkeley bans flavored tobacco products and e-cigarette sales near schools, for example.

Mayor Lee, for one, is putting his weight behind Cohen's proposal. "That’s why they flavor it. They are trying to get vulnerable populations hooked,” Lee said according to the Examiner. “It is being hooked that brings in the profit.” If the bill makes its way through the Board of Supervisors, Lee will sign it into law, he says.

A similar push to legislate against flavored tobacco products comes from Oakland city council member Annie Campbell Washington, who was at SF City Hall in solidarity with Cohen according to the Ex. "We first took on big soda and succeeded and now we are taking on big tobacco together,” Campbell Washington said, referring to successful soda taxes passed in Oakland and San Francisco in November.

UCSF's Dr. Valerie Yerger points to the racial component of flavored tobacco product marketing and sales. “45,000 African Americans die annually from tobacco related diseases — more than police-involved shootings, homicides, AIDS, car accidents, diabetes; and all other preventable causes of death combined,” Dr. Yerger told Cohen. “Why do over 80% of Black smokers smoke mentholated tobacco products? Since the Civil Rights Era, Big Tobacco companies have perniciously targeted the African American Community with mentholated tobacco products.”

One major question that's left unclear by Cohen's press release: Whether or not flavored e-cigarettes or vape liquids would be affected by the legislation. SFist has contacted the Supervisor's office for comment and is expecting to hear back shortly. Update: A representative from Supervisor Cohen says yes, the SF ban on sale would cover everything that's a tobacco product, which according to state legislation includes e-products, not just combustible/smokable tobacco. The representative also clarifies that the law would not be a ban on possession, just on sale by local tobacco retailers.

Related: Hoard 'Em If You Got 'Em: CA Cigarettes To Cost $2 More Per Pack As Of Saturday

Though an effort to raise California's smoking age to 21 stalled last month in the state Assembly, that won't stop a couple San Francisco lawmakers from trying to impose tighter regulations for young vapers and smokers at the local level.

At this afternoon's Board of Supervisors meeting (underway as we speak!), Supervisor Scott Wiener and co-sponsors Supervisor Eric Mar and Malia Cohen will introduce legislation to raise the purchasing age for tobacco products in San Francisco from 18 to 21.

In a press release announcing the legislation's introduction, Wiener says that "By raising the tobacco purchase age to 21, we can reduce adolescent tobacco use, which will help combat addiction, stop long-term illness, and prevent premature deaths."

"For decades we have seen the catastrophic health effects of tobacco use, and every day we spend millions of dollars treating people who suffer from an addiction which often starts in their teens. San Francisco can help lead a statewide and national movement to improve the health of our youth and save lives."

According to Wiener's release, a University of California San Francisco study estimated that as of 2009, the direct health care costs and indirect costs from lost productivity and premature births in San Francisco alone added up to $380 million.

And when Wiener says "tobacco" he isn't just talking about cigarettes or (shudder) cigars: He also means e-cigs and vaping products.

In an email to SFist, Wiener says that his legislation will hit even under 21 vapers by default, as "Last year, under legislation authored by Supervisor Mar, e-cigarettes were classified as cigarettes under our Municipal Code." So, if you're a 19-year-old e-cig fan, it just might be game over, man.

If the legislation passes, as Wiener seems confident it will, SF will be the second major US city to raise the smoking age to 21. New York City bumped their smoke-buying age to 21 in 2014, and the entire state of Hawaii raised the age last year.

According to the Chron, about 80 cities across the country have raised the cigarette sales age to 21, including Santa Clara County and Healdsburg. The Healdsburg case is interesting, though: Though the legislation passed, after legal threats from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, it was suspended in October of this year.

"We are going to be threatened by a lawsuit by NATO (National Association of Tobacco Outlets)," Healdsburg mayor Mayor Shaun McCaffery told the Press Democrat in October, saying that former city attorney David Warner had said that "There is some risk involved, potential litigation if we get too far ahead (of other cities)," and that "Healdsburg was likely preempted by state law from adopting an ordinance raising the minimum age to 21."

San Francisco is no stranger to lawsuits with tobacco companies, though — after the Supes voted to ban tobacco sales in pharmacies in 2008, Philip Morris USA filed suit against the city, arguing that "the ordinance violated its First Amendment right to free speech." The tobacco company dropped that suit in October, 2009.

Previously: San Francisco Supervisors Vote To Ban E-Cigarettes

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began a series of raids in Richmond, San Francisco, Redwood City, Oakland, and Fremont this morning. Federal agents busted people at on the 2200 block of Bissel Avenue and on the 2900 block of Cutting Boulevard in Richmond. In Oakland, four raids resulted in at least four arrests were made at the 600 block of South Elmhurst Avenue, the 400 block of Douglas Avenue, the 300 block of East 15th Street, and the 2200 block of 38th Avenue. The other location points are still not known. The raids, which bgan at 6 a.m., were for unknown items. The The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says that "a court order prohibits it from divulging specific details about what is being sought." But we'll venture to guess that they're looking for alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and/and explosives.