LATEST ALERTS
View allAlternative tobacco and nicotine products in California
Regulatory reports
Detailed legal reports outlining industry regulation, analysis of the laws, and pertinent organisations
Regulatory data
Our full regulatory tracking databases including tax, proposed bills, etc.
NEW FORMAT
From February of 2022, subscribers will be able to view and filter individual regulatory alerts per region. If you want to get our monthly compilations, visit our alerts Round-up section.
Alerts
Our legal experts track the evolving regulation around the tobacco alternatives sector on a daily basis. These alerts are then compiled into our Monthly Round-up section.
30th November 2022
US - California: RJ Reynolds and other tobacco companies have filed a motion in the US Supreme Court asking for an emergency order to prevent California from enforcing the flavour ban approved in the November ballot, press reports.
28th November 2022
- US - California: Attorney general Rob Bonta announced $18.6m in state grant funding to 41 local government agencies to tackle the illegal sale of tobacco products, especially to minors, as part of the Department of Justice’s annual Tobacco Grant Program. The grant programme hopes to not only curb retailers disregarding federal tobacco laws, but to ultimately prevent the next generation from being addicted to tobacco.
11th November 2022
- US - California: Tobacco companies are suing California over the flavour ban that passed via the ballot on Tuesday 8th November. They state that although the state and localities have broad authority to regulate tobacco products under federal law, "one thing they cannot do is completely prohibit their sale because they do not meet the state or locality’s preferred 'tobacco product standards'." Thus, the flavour ban would be pre-empted by federal law. The plaintiffs are RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, RJ Reynolds Vapor Company, American Snuff Company, LLC, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc., Modoral Brands Inc., Neighborhood Market Association Inc., and MORIJA LLC dba Vapin' The 619.
9th November 2022
US - California: As expected, voters in California yesterday passed Proposition 31 to uphold the 2020 legislation banning the sale of flavoured tobacco products. Senate Bill 793 was delayed due to a referendum call by the tobacco industry, which gave the voters the final say. Many local jurisdictions in the state have already passed some sort of restriction on flavoured tobacco products, the sale of which will now be forbidden state-wide.
8th November 2022
US - California: Proposition 31, which aims to uphold Senate Bill 793, is on the state ballot today. A “yes” vote would ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products in California.
21st October 2022
- US - California: A flavoured tobacco products ban referendum is on the 8th November ballot in California. Some health organisations are advocating to vote yes, so as to uphold Senate Bill 793, which would ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products. San Luis Obispo County health officer, Penny Borenstein, is among them, encouraging the community to vote yes, stating: "We stand with commendable health organizations such as the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Cancer Action Network of the American Cancer Society, the California Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics." San Luis Obispo County has a population of around 280,000.
29th September 2022
US - California: The city of Chula Vista has unanimously voted to ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products – including menthol – from 1st January 2023, local media reports. With a population of over 275,000, Chula Vista is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area.
17th August 2022
US - California: The San Benito County Board has voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance banning the sale of flavoured tobacco products within both incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county, which lies in the Coast Range Mountains to the south of San Francisco and has a population of around 64,000. The ordinance, which also prohibits tobacco retailers from selling e-cigarettes, adds to the Californian trend of local flavour bans while a referendum on a state-wide flavour ban is pending.
29th July 2022
- US - California: As of 25th July, it’s unlawful to sell flavoured tobacco to anyone in the unincorporated areas of Sacramento County. The sales ban includes flavoured cigarettes, e-cigarettes and cigars along with any flavoured edible tobacco and nicotine products. According to a Sacramento County news release, all cigarette products with smells and flavours except tobacco are prohibited from being sold. Hookah lounges are not exempt from the ban.
19th July 2022
US - California: Attorney general Rob Bonta yesterday announced $22m in state funding for local government agencies to tackle the illegal sale of tobacco products, especially to minors. He said the Department of Justice’s Tobacco Grant Program would give local agencies “the funding they need to keep our children healthy and hold tobacco retailers accountable”. Any local agencies with authority to enforce tobacco-related state laws or local ordinances are eligible to apply.
18th July 2022
- US - California: Millbrae City Council intends to prepare an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco products within the city, which lies in the San Francisco Bay Area and has a population of just over 23,000. Millbrae is in San Mateo County, where sales of flavoured tobacco products and e-cigarettes have been banned in unincorporated areas since 2018. The county intends to update its Tobacco Retailer Permit Ordinance to specifically include synthetic nicotine products and non-nicotine e-cigarettes and to place stipulations on where new retailers can be located. A Californian referendum over a state-wide flavour ban is still pending.
