SAN FRANCISCO -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law on Friday requiring all cigarettes sold in the state to be "fire safe" -- made from materials that extinguish them if they are discarded or left unattended while lit.
The bill was adapted from safety standards in place in New York. Similar laws also are in place in Vermont and Canada. Lawmakers who supported the bill had cited 25,000 fires caused in the state by cigarettes over the past decade, according to a report from Reuters.
A fire-safe [image-nocss] cigarette goes out when left unsmoked. If a smoker falls asleep with a lit cigarette, the cigarette goes out after a certain amount of time instead of potentially causing a fire.
Tobacco companies oppose fire-safe cigarette legislation, according to a report from the News Blaze, because it reduces cigarette sales. Fire-safe cigarettes contain bands, also called speed bumps, along the length of the cigarette. If smokers don't draw on the cigarette when it burns down to a speed bump, the cigarette self-extinguishes.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.