of these as sort of a reason to step in. although arguably, you know, the city might be doing this regardless of what the fda said because our smoking laws supercede any sort of national laws. >> so these e-cigarettes are essentially pretty new, around for only the about seven years. rachel, you and your colleagues at ucsf did a study on the marketing of these devices. what were your key findings? >> we found that the products we did an analysis of the online website marketing. and we found that the products are being marketed in ways that might appeal to kids. they're being marketed with fruit, candy and even alcohol flavors. and there's also marketing that features celebrities. including on television. and television has been closed to tobacco cigarettes since about the 1970s. so people might be seeing something that looks like

smoking advertised on television for the first time in their lives. >> what's the impact of this marketing, do you think, among young people? >> i think it could be appealing to young people. and what we do know is that data from the cdc shows that e cigarette use among youth has also risen are rapidly from 2011 to 2012, it doubled. that's very concerning. >> i think the same cdc study found one in five middle schoolers who tried e-cigarettes say they had never tried a cigarette before. michael mullins, you own three storeses in san rafael and santa rosa that sell the devices. what do you make of the various arguments and concerns about the products that you sell? >> well, the same kind of arguments and concerns have been going on for quite some time now. one of the ones i hear over and over is the flavors. you know, flavored, they got rid of flavored cigarettes. so you can't have that anymore. but one thing that people seem

to forget is that i'm an adult. you know, i'm in my late 30s. i like flavors, too. i like chocolate. and i like peach and i like all those flavors, too. and i don't think that because you know, i believe that there's some regulation that needs to happen. i believe that there's some good manufacturing practices that need to start happening, and i believe that rolling these kind of products in with tobacco rules and regulations is not the answer. i think that there should be a classification itself for this product rather than just a tobacco product. >> i think on the city level, it was sort of an issue of expediency. the city wants to treat these like tobacco products because it's easier because they can say, don't smoke these where you can't smoke cigarettes. san francisco, quite frankly, it's easier to say where you're allowed to smoke than where you aren't. in your own home and curbside are the only places that are really legal. you can't smoke in parks, at bus

stops, you can't smoke in public buildings and businesses. so i don't know that the board of sups really stuck their tone to the debate or is this a tobacco product. i do think they definitely talked a lot about the issue of kid use and the fact they sent some news out before the vote and said it was easy to buy these. >> rachel, is there any credible evidence there are harmful toxins and chemicals in e cigarettes? >> because the product is unregulated, there's not a public accounting of exactly what's in the product. so users may be exposed to things they're not aware that they're getting. what we do nope from research that's already been conducted to date on the e cigarette liquid and the aerosol is that there are some toxins found in the vapor and also nicotine excuse me, aerosol and also nicotine. so people exposed to that may be exposed to those toxins and

nicotine so a lot of the products. >> in the samples that you sampled. >> not myself but other researchers have conducted analyses of cross brands, yeah. >> correct. >> let me ask you this,al. it's obviously there are health concerns and concerns about marketing to young people. are there beneficial uses of e cigarettes? i mean, are they -- do they greatly reduce the risk of tobacco related deaths among smokers of regular cigarettes if they would switch to this as an alternative? >> i'm pretty confident without net scientific evidence if you were to put 20 people in a room and have them smoke cigarettes for 60 years and put 20 people in another room and have them use e cigarettes for 20 years, that the people smoking cigarettes would probably pass away or have health concerns. it's not a cure-all. i don't believe it's a smoking cessation device. like i said, it's a lesser of

two -- much lesser of two evils. >> the folks at uc subpoena f would say that. stan told me these are .1 as bad as cigarettes. we think they're terrible so being .1 less isn't good. i know people who tried to use them to help quit and ended up sort of using them in scenarios where it was not acceptable to smoke a combustible cigarette. i think that's one of the reasons that a lot of the manufacturers are concerned about these regulations is that they have been marketing them as a sort of way around anti-smoking laws, right? you can light up in an office. you can light up, you know, at a club, wherever. you don't have to go outside. and so i think that that's one of the reasons that is and other places we've seen a lot of industry pushback. >> i'm sorry. >> go ahead, please. >> that's one of the main concerns is that also one of the conclusions of the analysis of the marketing that i found is that they're explicitly marketed

to get around smoke-free laws and as a convenience or just like smoking but without the negatives. so where it is concerning is that in the -- in the cross sectional studies which means when you look who's using e cigarettes, most use is among current smokers. that represents what we call dual use. they're using e guareths and regular cigarettes. a concern is they might keep smoking and not make quitting cigarettes a long-term and short term goal which is what you would save you from the death and disease. the goal should it be to quit all toe pack could use cigarettes and dual use of both products is a concern. >> it's a big market, $2 billion in sales last year and some analysts have said it could eventually exceed the $80 billion tobacco market. certainly something that a lot of lawmakers are watching.

the san francisco board of supervisors holds its second vote next week and it is expected to be signed into law. thank you all for joining us, ma ris sass lagos, rachel grana and michael mullins. after more than a decade of puttering long, hydrogen powered vehicles may soon be kicking off in california. they emit only water vapor from the tail pipe. governor jerry brown recently signed legislation to fund more hydrogen refueling stations and manufacturers like toyota are coming out with new car mod did hes. still the vehicles have a lot of catching up to do with other alternative cars already on the road. scott shafer narrates our story. >> like most people, bill holloway commutes to work, driving 75 miles from his home in alameda, california. but then again, most people don't make their commute in a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. >> i drive a very rare car. there's only a handful on lease here in northern california.

>> this rare car uses hydrogen instead of gasoline and emits only water vapor instead of harmful pollution. >> the economy of this mercedes is great. i average 58 miles per kilogram of hydrogen, the same as 58 miles in gas. i picked the hydrogen car because i was able to drive one of the early models and i'm kind of a geek. >> carmakers have spent more than a decade and invested billions to develop the technology. catherine dunwoody, executive director of the california fuel cell partnership, thinks that investment is about to pay off. >> having been involved in this now for 15 years and seeing the evolution of the technology, you know, these guys are serious. they really see the fuel cell vehicle as the future of automotive technology. >> in 2014, hyundai will release a new fuel cell suv in california. followed by new models from toyota and honda in 2015.

but even with the rollout of these new hydrogen cars can, drivers may hit a roadblock when it's time to refuel. >> my biggest complaint about this fuel cell car and in general is there's nowhere to fill them up. >> for now, there's just one place he can go to refuel his car in northern california. at this station in emeryville owned and operated by ac transit. 12 of its public buses run on hydrogen. at the hydrogen pump, filling up is similar to filling up at a regular gas station. >> it only takes four or five minutes to fill the same as a regular gasoline car. i had to make no adjustments at all. >> on a per mile basis, it costs about as much as gasoline and like gasoline, hydrogen is flammable but disperses quickly if it leaks because it's lighter than air. >> i never worried about the safety of the hydrogen. the hydrogen thanks are buried in the middle in the safest place in the car.

>> the thanks also store hydrogen at high pressure, a recent innovation that has doubled the driving range of the cars says ted lipman director of the sustainability research center. >> what's very different now is we're able to store a lot mof hydrogen on the vehicle because we've gone to higher storage pressures, 250 or even 300 miles. >> most battery electric cars can only travel 80 or so miles before needing recharged. a fuel cell car also needs electricity to power the motor but here it's made on board from hydrogen. >> here is a fuel cell stack very similar to the type you would see in a fuel cell powered car. each cell has a special membrane material in the middle that splits the hydrogen molecules into protons and electrons. the protons are now ions that can go through this material but the electrons cannot.

>> so the electrons go around the membrane and generate electricity. oxygen binds with the electrons and ions to produce water and heat, the only emissions. but like electric cars, fuel cell cars still need a fuel source. >> hydrogen fuel cells vehicles can be zero emission vehicles. the only way is to use a renewable source for the hydrogen. that could be solar power or wind power. >> still most hydrogen generated in the u.s. is with methane, a natural gas. >> even though there's some co2 produced from that process, it's still about 50% less than burning gasoline in the combustion engine. >> in october 2013, california, oregon is, new york, and five other states pledged to put more than 3 million zero emission vehicles on their roads by 2025. with the nation's largest car market and its tough air quality standards, california is critical to the success of fuel cell cars and the infrastructure

the cars require to take off. >> i can't go on a long trip. if they had more fuelingizations, they would have more cars they could sell. if there were more cars, they would have more fueling stations. we have a chicken and egg problem. >> so in 2013, governor jerry brown signed a new law that provides $20 million a year to build at least 100 hydrogen refueling stations in california by 2024. 19 new stations are already in development. >> the state funding helps offset the risk to these small and medium sized businesses to make this investment to move forward with hydrogen fuel technology. >> but james sweeney, a aiw=std university expert on energy policy questions the use of public dollars to help build hydrogen stations. >> the state wants to build hydrogen fueling infrastructure with no knowledge as to whether there's going to be a significant number of vehicles#

that will use those. it's a recipe for risking taxpayer funds for what may be a total waste of money. >> this isn't the first time california has tried to promote a vision of a hydrogen highway. >> all across our highway system, hundreds of hydrogen fueling stations will are built. >> arnold schwarzenegger's plan relied on private investors to build up to 100 stations by 2010, but the plan failed. >> i think the original plan timing was ambitious and i think that the cars really have come so far since the 2004 plan was established. >> even so, will drivers can choose hydrogen when electric cars and other clean vehicles are already on the road? >> really drives just like in he other car. gas pedal and a brake. there's an emergency brake if you need it. >> have fun. >> when people get to test drives the cars,

they'll.impressed by the performance how similar they are to conventional vehicles. >> while driving them may be easya2$ is, both advocates and carmakers know their success depends on building more refueling stations soon. >>ing if san francisco could talk, what would it say? that's the question at the heart of a new illustrated guide by artist wendy macnaughton called "meanwhile in san francisco, the city in its own words." she has been sketching, observing and informally interview bay area residents for years and also illustrated books the true story of love, desperation and gps technology. scott shafer spoke with her earlier. >> wendy macnaughton, welcome. >> thank you. >> i think of this as kind of an illustrated love letter to san francisco, your book. and you describe yourself as a graphic journalist. what do you mean by that and how does it relate to the this book? >> i use pictures that i draw

and words of the people who i talk to to tell true stories about their lives. >> and so you're listening to people and talking with people and sort of taking composites of the things that you heard on the streets and throughout the city? >> exactly, i spend anywhere from a day to a whole month with a group of people writing down everything they say, getting to know them and all the while drawing, them, what they're doing, little snippets of things we might overlook. >> one of the things you say in the book is san francisco is a city of dividing lines, culture, language, socioeconomic status. how did you bridge those divides? >> well, the places that i looked at were the communities that i didn't necessarily know very much about. it was really interesting for me to talk to different people and find that in san francisco, that there's so many different cities going on at once. i had an idea of my san francisco, but this pointed out many others that are going on at the same time. >> yeah. the -- despite the dividing

lines, there are places in san francisco where there's kind of lines, there are places in san francisco where there's kind of a crossroads where everyone comes together for one reason or another. sick vic center is one of those and the main library in particular. tell us why you chose the main library and the time you spent there and what you saw. >> i spent about a month in the main library and so many people come through there, it is really a center of the city in so many different ways and when i went in there, i thought it was going to be one story but it turned out to be a very different one. it's the only place in the country at the time that had a full time social worker and they do so much good for the city. it's incredible. >> there's actually an illustration of the social worker in the book. leah. what does she do there? >> she works so hard. she has developed a homeless outreach program. she reaches out to people who come and use the library for a place to be, a place to rest. to develop a job resume. and she'll help them get resources to support them and

she'll actually sometimes help those people get jobs within the library doing outreach themselves. >> as i said, as the a crossroads the library. you've got students. it's kind of an after school program for kids in some ways, unemployed folks looking for work, the homeless. what's are the kinds of things you overheard as you were there? >> you hear it all. first of all, it's a quiet place. you're not going to hear all that much. i heard people just talk about how much it meant to them. all the different ways that they use it. >> yeah. and there was also charles who you profiled i think, a formerly homeless person who also works there with the health department i think? it's really a social service hub as much as a lending place, isn't it? >> exactly. >> not far from there is fifth street and mission and sixth street and mission which is, assay, a block away but a universe away. >> you hut. >> describe those two blocks and how they're different. >> fifth street, well, they're both pretty transient places.

a lot of people moving through at all times in a very different way. fifth street you have people going to work, to and from lunch, stuff like that, a parking garage right there. sixth street has one of the largest concentrations of single resident occupancy hotels. >> a lot of social services. >> so you have two very different worlds just a block apart. >> one of the things you did is illustrated the different things for sale on the two streets. quite different. >> very different. big difference between really wonderful high end coffee shop and a really you know great corner store but they don't really sell anything to eat there. >> you know, san francisco is itself at a crossroads in a way. we have the civic conversations. sometimes it's more an argument going on about the cost of living here and the techies coming in. i would think that part of san francisco might be a place you could pick up on some of those tensions, differences between people. was that the case. >> it's amazing if you just stand on the street corner and just listen to what people say

as you walk by, the difference between the conversations on fifth street which might be about getting to work and being very busy are different than what you hear on sixth street which may be how you doing, what's going on, you're hanging out on the >> you profiled muni, spent time on a bus another place where people interact or don't interact but at least cross paths. and you profiled a driver and one of the things you pointed out was the rituals they have at the beginning of the day. >> up at the crack of dawn and going through getting the bus ready, cleaning it off, making sure it's in tip top condition. he gets on the bus and has this incredible overview of san francisco. he cuts through so many different places. >> he sees it all. if you ride around on the different routes, you do get to seep a lot. >> you take note of the number of times people say hello and thank you. >> not very much. >> gives awe appreciation for how tough the job is. >> yeah, and how very patient those people are. >> well, you also paid a visit

to golden gate park and what everyone thinks of as the buffalo. >> are not buffalo they're bison. >> what did you find out there? >> well. >> buttercup. >> buttercup. they have amazing names. everyone has a name and different personality. and they've been there for a long time. mostly they're quite happy. >> yeah. i guess you could do this kind of thing anywhere. in los angeles, sacramento, san diego, new york. do you feel na you've captured or would you capture something different in those places or are urban centers so similar in a way? >> i think there already similarities in their diversity. there's a hundred thousand stories to tell in every city and i would love to capture more. >> meanwhile in san francisco, the city in its own words, wendy macnaughton, thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> to watch her at work in her studio, please visit kqed.org/arts.

>>en adjoining me now for a look the an other news stories we're tracking is scott shafer. >> hi. >> an update on something we reported last week. we talked to state senator ed hernandez about his proposal that would have repealed parts of prop 209, a measuree4íz that the law that bans affirmative action income public college adds missions. this week a complete turnaround. john perez rez pulled it. why. >> since it passed the senate in january with the democrats barely passing it, asian-americans groups have organized againstgfd@ this and things aren't broken, why fix them. 42% of admissions to uc berkeley are asian-american. they were concerned if anything changed and affirmative action were allowed to be used for admissions, they would be the users. three asian-american senators went to speaker perez and said please pull this off the docket. we don't want you to vote on

this. we don't want it on the ballot this year. >> the three senators voted for it in january. why the change of heart? >> i wouldn't say these are profiles in courage. they see the politics. are difficult for them. three of these folks are running for office. the speaker john perez is running for controller, leland ye for secretary of state and ted lue is running for henry watchman's congressional seat. the last thing they wanted was to be in the middle of a crossfire between hispanic groups and asian-american groups and wanted it to go away. >> another ballot measure bit the dust this week, as well. by ron unz to raise the state minimum wage to $12. what happened? now he's saying it's unlikely to make it on the ballot? >> he was hoping to get money. you need about a million bucks to get signatures. he said i don't think i'm not going to be able to get money from any wealthy republicans or

organized labor. he said it's probably not going to happen. there wasn't the money to do it. >> campbell harris, our state attorney general this week issued a report on transnational crime which found california is the top target for crime syndicates in china, africa and eastern europe with $30 billion in money laundered going through california each year. why the target an here in california? >> well, this is a hub of innovation. there's a lot of wealthy people here. we have a $2 trillion a year economy. so you see a lot of internet hacking. you've got drugs coming across the border through san diego. you've got identity theft. all kinds of things. it's a rich target rich environment as you might say just because of who lives here, the kinds of businesses that are here, trade secrets and all those things. so the attorney general is going to mexico next week with others attorneys general from other states to deal and talk with the mexican authorities about these things. >> it's widely believed she'll run for governor in four years.

>> burnishing her credentials. >> for all of our coverage, please go to kqed news.org. >> i'm scott shafer, thanks for joining us. >> and i'm thuy vu. have a good night.

every single bite needed to be tasted. >> wow. >> it's like a great big hug. >> my parents put chili powder in my baby food. >> everywhere all over the table. >> my stomach is g