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Goodbye ‘banana smash’ cigarillos: Governor quickly signs bill to ban flavored tobacco
August 28, 2020
Cigars with flavored wrappers at a liquor store in Berkeley. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
In summary
The new law, aimed at keeping flavored tobacco products away from youth, was cast by opponents as being discriminatory against African American smokers who favor menthol cigarettes.
Cotton candy vape, tropical fusion cigarillos and menthol cigarettes will be extinct in California after a bill aimed at stopping kids from getting addicted to tobacco sailed through the Legislature today— and the governor almost immediately signed it.
Even so, it’s been an uphill battle for the bill, whose supporters have tried to ban flavored tobacco statewide before and failed. This time, the bill was helped along by skyrocketing vaping among teens, several marijuana vape-related deaths last year, concerns about respiratory health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortened legislative session and a supportive governor.
That still didn’t stop tobacco companies from waging an intense opposition campaign that called the proposal discriminatory toward Black and Latino adult smokers, who prefer menthols.
The bill, SB 793, bans the sale of all flavored tobacco products – from bubblegum to mango to menthol. The prohibition includes pods for vape pens, tank-based systems, menthol cigarettes and chewing tobacco. It initially included premium cigars and hookah tobacco, but those were later exempted from the proposal.
Menthol flavor, including menthol cigarettes, were the focus of the pushback. Funded by tobacco companies, the opposition campaign alleged that the bill unfairly goes after products preferred by smokers of color while leaving hookah and premium cigars untouched.
Phil Gardiner, co-chair of the national African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, and other supporters were on the Zoom call with the governor today when he signed the bill.
Gardiner told CalMatters it was “fabulous” to see after years of trying to limit tobacco use.
“The tobacco industry has lured our kids into addiction for too long, using menthol and other flavors,” he said in a statement. “By signing SB 793 the Governor sent a strong message to the tobacco industry that California’s kids are off-limits
August 28, 2020
In summary
The new law, aimed at keeping flavored tobacco products away from youth, was cast by opponents as being discriminatory against African American smokers who favor menthol cigarettes.
Cotton candy vape, tropical fusion cigarillos and menthol cigarettes will be extinct in California after a bill aimed at stopping kids from getting addicted to tobacco sailed through the Legislature today— and the governor almost immediately signed it.
Even so, it’s been an uphill battle for the bill, whose supporters have tried to ban flavored tobacco statewide before and failed. This time, the bill was helped along by skyrocketing vaping among teens, several marijuana vape-related deaths last year, concerns about respiratory health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a shortened legislative session and a supportive governor.
That still didn’t stop tobacco companies from waging an intense opposition campaign that called the proposal discriminatory toward Black and Latino adult smokers, who prefer menthols.
The bill, SB 793, bans the sale of all flavored tobacco products – from bubblegum to mango to menthol. The prohibition includes pods for vape pens, tank-based systems, menthol cigarettes and chewing tobacco. It initially included premium cigars and hookah tobacco, but those were later exempted from the proposal.
Menthol flavor, including menthol cigarettes, were the focus of the pushback. Funded by tobacco companies, the opposition campaign alleged that the bill unfairly goes after products preferred by smokers of color while leaving hookah and premium cigars untouched.
Phil Gardiner, co-chair of the national African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, and other supporters were on the Zoom call with the governor today when he signed the bill.
Gardiner told CalMatters it was “fabulous” to see after years of trying to limit tobacco use.
“The tobacco industry has lured our kids into addiction for too long, using menthol and other flavors,” he said in a statement. “By signing SB 793 the Governor sent a strong message to the tobacco industry that California’s kids are off-limits
