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Oakland Bans Sales Of Flavored Tobacco

OAKLAND (AP) -- Oakland has become the latest California city to ban the sale of flavored tobacco.

The East Bay Times reports that the city council voted unanimously around midnight Wednesday to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored blunt wraps. The vote comes a month after San Francisco approved a similar ban.

Tobacco manufacturers, vaping groups and a grocer association are aiming to reverse that law. They argue it hurts immigrant business owners and limits freedom of choice.

Elected officials who supported Oakland's ban say diseases related to smoking account for the majority of deaths in Oakland.

The American Heart Association says Big Tobacco uses flavored tobacco products to bait young people into addiction.

Oakland's law requires a second approval in September. It would take effect in 2018.

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