WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Californians overwhelmingly voted to ban all flavored tobacco merchandise within the state.
The transfer makes California by far the most important state to ban such merchandise, that are already unlawful in a smattering of smaller states, including Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
Regulators have focused flavored merchandise particularly as a result of they’re overwhelmingly most well-liked by younger individuals. More than 84% of younger individuals who vape reported utilizing flavored merchandise, in accordance with not too long ago launched survey information by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
commercial
California’s ban would additionally outlaw menthol cigarettes, which federal regulators have proposed banning nationwide as a result of they argue such merchandise are simpler to begin and more durable to stop. Survey information additionally present that menthol cigarettes are overwhelmingly most well-liked by Black people who smoke.
Tuesday’s vote is the most recent twist in a greater than two-year combat between California legislators and the tobacco business. Lawmakers first handed the state’s taste ban in 2020, however the tobacco business rapidly launched a multimillion greenback marketing campaign to place the initiative to a well-liked vote.
commercial
“Tonight, once again Californians voted in support of protecting kids and standing up to Big Tobacco,” mentioned Michael Seilback, the nationwide assistant vice chairman of state public coverage on the American Lung Association. “This is a game changer.”
Philanthropist Michael Bloomberg contributed the vast majority of the monetary help for the pro-flavor ban marketing campaign. (Bloomberg Philanthropies additionally helps STAT’s protection of the business determinants of well being, however just isn’t concerned in selections about our journalism.)
The destiny of the California ban, nevertheless, may in the end be decided by a authorized combat over a beforehand enacted ban in Los Angeles County. The tobacco firm R.J. Reynolds is at the moment difficult that initiative, on the grounds that federal tobacco legislation doesn’t enable states and localities to ban the gross sales of tobacco merchandise. A federal appeals court docket dominated in March that states and municipalities do have the ability to ban flavored merchandise, however the firm requested the Supreme Court to evaluation that call in October.
If the Supreme Court agrees to take that case and sides with R.J. Reynolds, it may torpedo California’s ban, in addition to bans on the books in different states and localities, in accordance with Desmond Jenson, the lead senior employees lawyer for federal regulation on the Public Health Law Center.
“There’s very good reason to be concerned about a Supreme Court decision,” Jenson mentioned. “No court at any level has ever struck down a policy prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products on federal preemption grounds, but that doesn’t mean the Supreme Court couldn’t decide otherwise and that ruling would apply everywhere.”
Pro-vaping advocates are more likely to criticize California’s new ban as depriving grownup tobacco customers of flavored vaping merchandise, that are much less dangerous than flamable cigarettes. There just isn’t dependable information accessible on what number of adults at the moment use flavored vaping merchandise, although the CDC estimates that 3.7% of adults nationwide vape.
Tobacco management advocates argue taste bans will in the end maintain individuals — significantly children — from getting hooked on nicotine, they usually plan to make use of California’s newly enacted coverage to extend stress on different states to enact comparable bans.
“We know that flavor prohibitions are going to save lives and we are not going to stop until we can remove these products in all communities and fight back against big tobacco’s efforts to hook another generation of kids,” Seilback added.
Advocates additionally informed STAT they hope the ban will ship a sign to federal regulators in regards to the public help for taste bans.
“It will send a strong message to the Biden Administration and the FDA that there is strong support for eliminating the flavored e-cigarettes that have caused the youth e-cigarette epidemic and finally stopping the tobacco industry’s targeting of the African American community with menthol cigarettes,” mentioned Matt Myers, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. (The Campaign receives funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies.) Myers referred to as California’s ban “the most significant tobacco control action taken in the United States in years.”
STAT’s protection of the business determinants of well being is supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Our financial supporters usually are not concerned in any selections about our journalism.
