Give the tobacco industry this: They never quit trying to push their products on Californians.
Despite state law, the industry continues to sell deadly products. Voters, however, can put a stop to this cynical strategy on the Nov. 8 ballot with a Yes vote on Proposition 31, which will reinstate a ban on sales of products such as fruit-flavored vape pens and menthol cigarettes.
Santa Cruz County health officials have said that products such as e-cigarettes, little cigars and smokeless tobacco use sweet flavors such as gummy bear, chocolate and cotton candy to appeal to young people. The American Medical Association reported that 80% of young people who have ever used tobacco started with a flavored product. The flavors mask the harsh taste of tobacco and contribute to addiction. Flavored tobacco products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are even more addictive than regular tobacco products.
The CDC reports that nearly 9 of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily first try smoking by age 18. The tobacco industry knows that flavored tobacco makes their products appealing to young people – in 2021, according to the CDC, 80% of high school students and 75% of middle school students who smoked reported using a flavored tobacco product in the past 30 days.
With all jurisdictions in Santa Cruz County already banning the sale of flavored tobacco (an estimated 130 California cities and counties have also passed some form of restrictions on flavored tobacco products, including the city of San Jose and Santa Clara County), and with polls showing the drive by the industry to repeal the law is a lost cause, you might ask, “What’s the point of this measure?”
Consider, then, that in 2020 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that banned the sale of flavored tobacco products, including electronic and menthol cigarettes, across the state.
The tobacco industry was not deterred, however, and was able to place this measure on the November ballot. And that meant the statewide ban was suspended pending the outcome of the vote.
The ban on sales from Senate Bill 793 should have kicked in Jan. 1, 2021, but is on hold until at least mid-December when the state must certify election results. This delay has given the tobacco industry nearly two full years to reap revenue estimated at $830 million from menthol cigarette sales alone, according to the Yes on Prop. 31 campaign, which based these figures on state and federal data regarding tobacco sales.
Not a bad deal for Big Tobacco, which has spent about $22 million to overturn the California law (compared with $5.7 million spent by supporters of the ban). The industry was able to maintain its particularly valuable menthol cigarette market in California – menthol cigarette sales comprised 36% of the total U.S. cigarette market as of 2018 and have been cited as particularly impacting Black Americans.
And tobacco addiction is a killer – even with the number of adults who smoke declining, it remains the top cause of preventable death in the state, killing about 40,000 Californians a year.
Laws aimed at reducing the number of people, young and older, who smoke have been effective. In 1988, California increased the tax on cigarettes by 25 cents a pack and used the money on a smoking-prevention program and, by 2011, the smoking rate for adults dropped from 23% in 1988 to 12%, and has dipped under 10% in recent years.
The No on 31 campaign says that reinstating the state ban will hurt small businesses. But that’s a relatively small price to pay for saving the lives of thousands of Californians and lowering health care costs associated with smoking.
The tobacco industry also points out that it’s already illegal in California to sell to sell any tobacco or vapor product to anyone under the age of 21, flavored or not.
But that hasn’t stopped many young people from obtaining flavored tobacco products, with the popularity of vapes seemingly out distancing local prohibitions.
All the more reason to ensure that the 2020 law is reinstated. Vote Yes on Prop. 31.