S A N TA M O N I C A
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October 18 – 24, 2019 Volume XXII, Issue 13
Banning E-Cigs in Santa Monica? Vaping an issue at Santa Monica middle and high schools By Sam Catanzaro Santa Monica lawmakers discussed banning or further regulating flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes at a City Council meeting October 15. A request of Santa Monica Gleam Mayor Davis and Councilmember Ted Winterer asks City staff to review a recent report issued by the Los Angeles City Attorney on September 18, 2019, related to banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes, closely follow any actions taken by LA City Council in response and return with proposed action to “ensure a consistent regional approach in discouraging the purchase and use of tobacco products
and e-cigarettes by our youth.” “In discussing the issue with the City Attorney we discovered that the City of Los Angeles is moving in this direction so it may make sense for us to pay attention to what they are going to do and at some point promulgate similar rules and regulations so that we have a more unified regional approach to this issue,” said Santa Monica City Councilmember Ted Winterer at the October 15 council meeting. “I heard from one of the school board members about what goes on at Santa Monica High School and in our middle schools, it is an issue they are feeling powerless to address unless the city takes some sort of action and regulations” In the face of the escalating public health emergency surrounding vaping, the role played by flavored e-liquids in making vaping attractive to minors and the impact of flavored tobacco on demand for traditional tobacco products, last month Los Angeles
Photo: Lindsay Fox (EcigaretteReviewed.com/flickr)
An electronic cigarette at a gas station.
City Attorney Mike Feuer released a report to LA City Council detailing options for restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products in Los Angeles. Feuer recommends that LA City Council enact a citywide ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products. “Flavored tobacco plays an outsized role in the vaping epidemic confronting our youth, and has long been a factor in
increasing demand for traditional tobacco products,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer. “Enacting a Citywide ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products is the best way to safeguard our youth and protect the general public from significant health risks.” According to Winterer, without similar action taken by the City of Los Angeles, a ban on e-cigarettes in Santa Monica would not have very much sway. “The challenge for me has always been if we were to enact a ban or regulation in our small 8.3 square miles it doesn’t really do much to deter the use because people who want those products will just go to Venice of West LA,” Winterer said. Helping with a regional approach to legislation vaping, on October 14 Culver City banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products including flavored e-liquids that
VAPE, see page 8
Police: Gang Involved in Pier Shooting Man shot in leg near Santa Monica Pier Wednesday night. By Sam Catazaro The Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) says that a shooting that occurred near the Santa Monica Pier Wednesday night appears to be gang-related. According to SMPD Lieutenant Candice Cobarrubias on October 16, 2019 at 9:58 pm, the SMPD received a radio call of a single shot fired in the south end portion of the pier’s 1550 lot. Officers arrived on scene and found a male subject who had sustained a single gunshot wound to his lower leg. The victim was transported to a local
hospital for a non-life threatening injury. “Officers were able to ascertain the suspects to be group of male Hispanics, possibly gang members in their early 20’s. The suspects were last seen leaving the parking lot in a small sedan or smaller SUV. Officers canvassed the area and were unable to locate the suspects,” Cobarrubias said. “The incident appears to be a spontaneous gang related encounter. Both parties became involved in a verbal altercation on the pier, resulting in the shooting in the southern portion of the 1550 lot.” The suspects remain at large, making this the third time in the past two months armed suspects have escaped a police search in Santa Monica. On September 10, an armed, masked robber stole between $3,000 and $5,000 from a Wells Fargo bank on Montana Avenue in broad daylight and eluded a massive manhunt. On October 3 a suspected armed robber escaped a manhunt in Santa
Monica’s North of Montana neighborhood. Detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspects or for any information that
may be useful to the investigation. Please contact the Robbery/Homicide Division at 310-458-8451 or the Watch Commander at 310-458-8427.
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