--- title: San Francisco Bans Chewing Tobacco in Sports Venues description: San Francisco bans smokeless chewing tobacco at sports venues including ballparks canonical: https://time.com/3852742/san-francisco-bans-chewing-tobacco/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-09T14:57:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:07:56.181Z article:section: Health og:title: San Francisco Bans Chewing Tobacco at Sports Venues og:description: The ban is effective Jan. 1, 2016 og:url: https://time.com/3852742/san-francisco-bans-chewing-tobacco/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88aa51b140759347/6987ef115f570fc937b1989d/att-park-san-fransisco.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3776 og:image:height: 2124 og:image:alt: A packed, sunny day at AT&T Park on July 10, 2013, in San Francisco. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: San Francisco Bans Chewing Tobacco at Sports Venues twitter:description: The ban is effective Jan. 1, 2016 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt88aa51b140759347/6987ef115f570fc937b1989d/att-park-san-fransisco.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # San Francisco Bans Chewing Tobacco at Sports Venues > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8c47dd1b-58b8-4e2a-b7d0-103c3e70fd04&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: San Francisco Bans Tobacco At Sports Parks, Including AT&T Park [Watch (HLS stream): San Francisco Bans Tobacco At Sports Parks, Including AT&T Park](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dCBUKPbv.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-05-09. San Francisco banned smokeless tobacco from all sports venues Friday. For a sport as fiercely protective of its traditions as baseball, will it work?_  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer May 9, 2015 2:57 PM UTC San Francisco banned smokeless tobacco from all sports venues Friday. For a sport as fiercely protective of its traditions as baseball, will it work?  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer May 9, 2015 2:57 PM UTC On Friday, San Francisco became the first American city to ban smokeless tobacco—chewing tobacco and “moist inhalable snuff”—at sports venues. The new ordinance, signed by Mayor Ed Lee, goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2016\. Violators will be asked to leave the playing fields (where cigarette and cigar smoking is already banned), the Associated Press reports. Anti-smoking groups [argue](http://time.com/3722784/chewing-tobacco-ban-california-baseball/) that a ban on smokeless tobacco—which has been linked to cancer and nicotine addiction—sends the right message to kids who look up to the players. But San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain said the measure may be hard to enforce, noting that coffee pouches resemble tobacco pouches, according to an article on [the team’s website](http://m.giants.mlb.com/news/article/123229214/giants-await-more-info-on-san-franciscos-new-smokeless-tobacco-ban). The state Assembly is still considering a bill banning tobacco use—electronic cigarettes included—wherever there’s a baseball game, the AP reports. _Read next:_ [_Why Lawmakers Want Smokeless Tobacco Thrown Out of the Homes of a National Pastime_](http://time.com/3722784/chewing-tobacco-ban-california-baseball/) ### See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola  Tobacco plants are grown for six weeks in the Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City so their leaves are large enough to serve as a factory for making antibodies. The plants are not modified or genetically altered in any way during this time. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics in Germany prepare the DNA coding for antibodies that can neutralize Ebola. These genes are inserted into a soil bacterium that easily infects the tobacco plant cells. Once in the cells, the gene is treated like any other plant gene and the plant starts churning out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  To infect the leaves with the antibody-containing bacteria, the plants are submerged in a water solution of the loaded bacteria. Plant cells have plenty of empty spaces filled with air, so a vacuum removes the air and the water, along with the bacteria and antibody genes, flow in. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  The leaf at the bottom has not been treated. The leaf on top is now an antibody-making factory. The plant's normal machinery starts making the antibody as if it is a plant protein. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics grind the leaves down to filter out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  Ultraviolet light reveals the clusters of cells that are busy making antibodies. One kg of leaves produces about 5g of antibodies, which is about a third of the dose required to treat an Ebola patient. Sean Gallup—Getty Images ## Transcript [00:00] Perhaps no American sport is more tied to its [00:02] traditions than baseball, no matter the logic behind [00:05] those traditions or frankly, the yuck factor. On Friday, [00:09] the city of San Francisco banned chewing tobacco in all [00:12] sports venues, including professional parks. that [00:15] includes at & t park where the reigning world [00:18] champion San Francisco Giants play. So Silicon valley [00:21] moms and dads, you won't have to worry about your [00:24] kids spotting their favorite player dipping starting next [00:27] season. But why it took so long for any municipality to [00:30] step in and ban chaw is more an issue of a game [00:33] game that fiercely protects tradition. Those lumps in [00:36] players cheeks are so intrinsic to baseball they [00:39] famously led to the make believe boys in the Sandlot [00:42] getting sick on a carnival ride. Critics say it's hard to [00:44] argue the product isn't marketed to real life kids, and [00:48] baseball's inspired generations of tobacco addicts. I [00:51] honestly don't like get any You know, buzz or effect off [00:54] it anymore it just, it's just kind of a baseball thing. It [00:57] gave me the idea of, oh, if I want to hit bombs I gotta [00:59] be dippin'. The latest round of critics calling for an end [01:02] to chewing tobacco in Major League Baseball came last [01:04] year when Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn died at just 54 [01:08] years old of cancer in his salivary gland. Gwynn and his [01:11] son, also a Major League ball player, blamed his years [01:14] of dipping. Tobacco, in my mind, is what killed [01:19] my dad. Of the new ban in San Francisco, Giants [01:22] manager Bruce Bochy told the team's beat reporter, [01:24] it's a step in the right direction. I think it can be a good [01:27] thing. It's going to be hard to enforce. 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