"The reality is that every day that we wait, more and more children are starting to use vaping products," she said. "[The ordinance> would ban all paraphernalia for vaping in the county of Santa Clara."
Chavez cited data released by health officials last month that said nearly one third of teens in Santa Clara County admitted to having tried vaping.
"We're really trying to make sure that we add protections for children. It's important to know that of the five hundred victims that have recently become ill, most of them are under the age of 25. What that means is that this is a very targeted campaign - they're very focused on young people," she said.
Santa Clara County has always been at the forefront of the battle against tobacco use, according to Chavez.
"Early on we led under Supervisor Yeager, making sure that we were not supporting or allowing the marketing of cigarettes to children and removing all the flavored cigarettes," Chavez said. "So really this is an extension of work we've been doing for years to make sure we're protecting, particularly the children, from nicotine and nicotine addiction."