Tag: California

  • California Governor Signs Flavor Ban

    California Governor Signs Flavor Ban

    California Governor Gavin Newsom on Aug. 28 signed legislation that will prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco and vapor products in the state beginning Jan 1, 2021. The flavored ban includes all flavors including menthol. The legislation does not make it illegal for someone to purchase, possess or use flavored tobacco or vapor products. The bill contains a provision that would impose a $250 fine for each violation. California will become the second state to prohibit flavored tobacco and vapor products, following Massachusetts. 

    “I have been very expressive in terms of my absolute condemnation of this tobacco industry that continues to find ways to target our youth,” said Newsom in a press conference just before signing the bill. “It will be a point of deep pride and personal privilege, as a father of four and as someone who has had many, many family members die at the hands of the tobacco industry, to sign that bill.”

    Vapor Technology executive director Tony Abboud called the new law “bad policy” and said, “As California’s economy continues to face Covid-related challenges, the last thing its state leaders should be doing is driving people back to cigarettes, shuttering small businesses and slashing jobs.”

  • California Assembly Approves Flavor Ban

    California Assembly Approves Flavor Ban

    Photo: Borgwaldt Flavor

    The California Assembly has approved a ban on the retail sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-cigarettes, flavored cigars and menthol cigarettes, in the state, reports The Los Angeles Times. The legislation does not make it illegal for someone to purchase, possess or use flavored products.

    The bill’s author, state Senator Jerry Hill, said his measure seeks to address an increase in tobacco use by young people. A 2018 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 67 percent of high school students and 49 percent of middle school students who used tobacco products in the prior 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time, Hill noted.

    In California, more than 85 percent of youth who use e-cigarettes use flavored products, and more than 85 percent of youth who use little cigars use flavored cigars, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CFTFK). California is home to more than 10 percent of the U.S. population.

    More than half of U.S. youth smokers—including seven out of 10 black youth smokers—smoke menthol cigarettes as do 85 percent of all black smokers.

    Supporters of the legislation blasted an advertising campaign from tobacco companies that claims the bill discriminates against black and Latino smokers, saying that the ads disingenuously portray the industry as an ally of communities of color.

    Advocates for the bill responded with another ad that argues flavored tobacco products have been heavily marketed to communities of color and pose disproportionate health risks to black residents.

    The state Senate, which overwhelmingly passed similar legislation in June, is expected to approve this version soon. California Governor Gavin Newsom has also expressed support for ending the sale of flavored tobacco products.

    If he signs the bill into law, California will become the second U.S. state to ban the sale of flavored tobacco. Massachusetts banned flavored tobacco products on June 1.

  • $2.87 per pack tax possible in Calif.

    California lawmakers chose not to make smokers pay more for health insurance,  but they may be more willing to make smokers pay more for cigarettes.

    A new bill proposing to raise the tax on tobacco by $2 per pack of cigarettes  cleared its first two committee votes last week in predictably partisan votes. SB 768, by Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles), would raise  the price of cigarettes to more than $8 a pack and generate about $1.4 billion a  year. De León proposes the money be used to offset costs of medical care for  tobacco-related diseases, anti-tobacco education and smoking-cessation  programs.

    The Senate Governance and Finance Committee approved the bill in a 5-2 vote  and the Senate Committee on Health approved it 6-2. All “yes” votes were  Democrats. All “no” votes were Republican.

    “Taxpayers pay $3.1 billion a year to subsidize this industry,” de León told  the health committee, citing an estimate for California’s annual medical costs  for tobacco-related diseases and health problems.

    “On a fiscal level, the price is much too high, and taxpayers have been  footing the bill for much too long,” de León said.

    California, which hasn’t increased taxes on tobacco since 1998, now charges  $0.87 cents on each pack of cigarettes and ranks 33rd in the country in tobacco  taxation. De Leon’s bill would move the state into fourth place.