A law that bans all flavored tobacco products is poised to go into effect after Californians voted Yes for Proposition 31 on Tuesday on the statewide ballot.
The California legislature voted to support the end of flavored tobacco with Senate Bill 793 in 2020, and voters are now affirming that decision on the ballot. The law was blocked by tobacco giants, including RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., with a $20 million campaign to push the issue on the 2022 statewide ballot.
The ban will take effect five days after the Secretary of State certifies the results of the vote, which must occur by Dec. 16.
California is the second state in the nation to ban flavored tobacco, after Massachusetts. More than 100 California jurisdictions, including Chula Vista, the city of San Diego, and Imperial beach, have already established their bans.
Supporters of the ban, including doctors and child welfare advocates, say California is poised to save billions of dollars in future tobacco-related healthcare costs and deter the perpetration of nicotine addiction and smoking-caused death.
Nationally, 2 million students in middle school and high school said the most popular tobacco product they used last year was flavored e-cigarettes, according to the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey.
Like alcohol, It is against the law for retailers to sell tobacco products to anyone under 21. California’s ban will fine retailers up to $250 for selling such products to minors.
The ban will prohibit the sale of also prohibits the sale of pods for vape pens, tank-based systems, and chewing tobacco, with exceptions made for hookahs, some cigars, and loose-leaf tobacco.
California’s ban would also outlaw menthol cigarettes.
R.J. Reynolds filed a federal lawsuit in San Diego federal court on Wednesday seeking to block California’s ban from going into effect. A federal appeals court ruled in March that states and municipalities do have the power to ban flavored products with the federal Tobacco Control Act.
The lawsuit argues that states and municipalities cannot “completely prohibit their sale because they do not meet the state or locality’s preferred “tobacco product standards”.
Tobacco companies have already sued once over California's flavor ban in 2021, but a federal judge dismissed the suit so voters can weigh in on the issue.
