San Francisco pushes legislation to promote good health

San Francisco Chronicle, August 4, 2008

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has voted to make the city the first in the country to ban the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies, and that's only the city's latest effort to make the entire city healthier. The supervisors also voted to require chain restaurants to post nutritional information on menus. This follows the creation of a program to recognize restaurants that don't use trans fats and an idea by Mayor Gavin Newsom to levy a fee on retailers of sugary sodas. Health experts say these kinds of measures are a good idea, especially as obesity rates in the country skyrocket and secondhand smoke continues to be a killer despite education about the dangers of tobacco.