He is a native of San Diego and a graduate of San Jose State University. Jane and Raymond Wurwand commit $1 million in grants to support small businesses in Los Angeles County struggling to survive COVID-19. California retail stores would be banned from selling menthol cigarettes if legislation advanced Monday by the state Assembly is approved by the Senate and the governor. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com. April 2020 This chart provides select examples1 of U.S. cities and counties that restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products. The measure went into effect on the 20th of May, and anyone caught selling the menthol products across the European Union (EU) could be fined up to €1,000. “We know Big Tobacco has hidden behind smoke and lies for years to hook generations of young people on deadly tobacco products, and this referendum is just one more tactic to continue the status quo,” Freitas said. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS. Pope Francis has made a Christmas Day appeal to nations to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are available for everyone. The new law, which bans the retail sale of flavored tobacco products including menthol and fruit flavors, as well as those used in electronic cigarettes, was … Packages of Juul mint flavored e-cigarettes are displayed at a San Rafael, California smoke shop. On United Airlines flight to LAX, he gave CPR to man dying of COVID-19. The high court declined to stop the prosecution of a woman who was charged with murder after authorities said she used methamphetamine before her fetus was stillborn. “This is Big Tobacco’s latest attempt to profit at the expense of our kids’ health,” Newsom said at the time. But the delay will be costly and deadly.”. We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. The most popular e-cigarettes flavors used by young people reflect the tobacco products used by the adults around them, which a state flavor ban will do little to address. He cited a 2018 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that 67% of high school students and 49% of middle school students who used tobacco products in the prior 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time. And since menthol cigarettes are disproportionately popular among people of color, the ban puts disadvantaged communities at further risk of the potential violence and overpolicing that can come with illegal activity. Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), who introduced the bill, said flavored tobacco is used by the industry to attract minors to smoking and vaping. By Jennifer Maloney and Christine Mai-Duc The California state legislature passed a ban on Newports and other menthol cigarettes, following a similar measure approved in Massachusetts last year. Why is that metric important? Restricting the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products is a promising equity-focused strategy for countering the tobacco industry’s … The ban is part of a measure barring the sale of flavored tobacco products, including all e-cigarettes except those that taste like tobacco, and would exclude hookahs and some cigars. The tobacco industry ran television ads before the Legislature’s vote that alleged by exempting hookah, expensive cigars and flavored pipe tobacco from the ban, legislators gave “special treatment to the rich, and [singled] out communities of color” by banning menthol cigarettes. The California state legislature passed a ban on Newports and other menthol cigarettes, following a similar measure approved in Massachusetts last year. A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Dec. 10. Why this one isn’t working as well. Public health officials are anxiously tracking the capacity of intensive care units as coronavirus case numbers surge. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), How California’s flavored tobacco ban will hurt communities and budgets, America’s long history of White House infighting, What happened to the Golden State? The majority young people who smoke prefer regular cigarettes. Black markets were more than happy to traffic newly illegal flavored tobacco products from neighboring states. Unfortunately for big tobacco, they don’t have much of a case. But on a scary, snowy night decades ago, the chaos of my mother’s drinking finally gave way to a real Christmas miracle. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a bill that bans the sale of flavored tobacco products in the state—a move that opponents of the bill said would devastate small retailers. Jacob James Rich is a policy analyst at Reason Foundation, a free market think tank, and an opportunity fellow at Young Voices. Trump’s repeatedly discredited attempt to overturn the November results has been given continued sustenance by the Fox News star. The tobacco industry wants to overturn a law banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in California. “SB 793 criminalizes the sale of menthol cigarettes preferred by people of color and creates special exemptions for products preferred by the wealthy — allowing the sale of expensive flavored cigars and pipe tobacco, in addition to hookah, to remain legal,” the group said in its statement. The campaign over the referendum is likely to generate heated debate, following vitriol between the two sides leading up to the Legislature’s approval of the law. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the flavored tobacco ban bill … House passes ban on flavored and menthol cigarettes in drive to curb youth smoking Updated Feb 28, 2020; Posted Feb 28, 2020 The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a … confirmed that suspicion a week later, listing “acute respiratory failure; COVID-19" as the cause of death. The late pop star’s Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, near Santa Barbara, has found a new owner in billionaire businessman Ron Burkle. If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. : Dennis Prager, A needed challenge to Newsom’s one-man rule, Festivus grievances from our editorial board. California Approves Ban on Menthol Cigarettes New law makes it second state in nation to prohibit sales of Newports and other minty smokes over protest from tobacco companies . Marjorie Leach, 101, is one of those men and women who are at least 100 years old and have survived COVID-19. L.A. County is testing to see if a more contagious coronavirus strain is in the community. August 31, 2020 SACRAMENTO—The California legislature Friday passed a ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes following a 34-0 vote in the state Senate, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. California Supreme Court allows murder charge in stillborn fetus case. The ban includes the sale of everything from menthol cigarettes to e-cigarette flavors, except tobacco. But now that tobacco is unpopular enough to move forward with targeted prohibitions, unfortunately California is again implementing laws that will disproportionately and negatively impact disadvantaged communities. The state’s March restrictions flattened the coronavirus curve, but the latest order must tame an infection rate that is already wildly out of control. Newsom will enter quarantine again after coronavirus exposure. August 29, 2020 / 11:39 AM / CBS News Starting January 1, it will be illegal to sell most flavored tobacco products in California. accused signature gatherers of misleading voters, Gov. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions. Set to take effect in January 2021, the ban would prohibit the sale of all flavored products that contain nicotine, including flavored vaping products and menthol cigarettes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was reported Friday morning at 8:42 a.m. Pacific time in Anaheim, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A coalition representing the tobacco industry said Tuesday it has turned in more than 1 million signatures as it seeks to qualify a referendum for the November 2022 ballot aimed at overturning a law banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in California. California is inviting an even larger black market to develop. The largest tobacco manufacturers are suing California to prevent its broad tobacco flavor ban. Starting January 1, stores can’t sell flavored cigars, vape liquid, menthol cigarettes, hookah tobacco, and other flavored tobacco products in the city of Sacramento California. New York lawmakers could ban flavored tobacco products including menthol cigarettes amid growing concern over the tobacco industry's use of flavorings to … To win legislative approval, the bill exempted hookah, expensive cigars and flavored pipe tobacco. L.A. County records 140 COVID-19 deaths in one day, a new record. “California will continue to fight back and protect children from Big Tobacco.”, The law Newsom signed would ban the retail sale of flavored tobacco products including menthol and fruit flavors, as well as those used in electronic cigarettes. California Bans Menthol Cigarettes Starting January 1, the state is set to join Massachusetts in prohibiting sales of all flavored tobacco products. Cigarette use in California, and across the country, has been falling for decades. “If this referendum qualifies for the ballot, we’re confident that California voters will reject Big Tobacco’s desperate attempt to keep hooking our kids for a profit. Photo by Lindsay Fox/Ecigarettereviewed.com Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch sold to billionaire. Abolish civil asset forfeiture Cigarettes and e-cigarettes on display at a gas station in Newport Beach, California, in 2016. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. The coalition of tobacco companies repeated their charge on Tuesday. About 70% of Black smokers in California smoke menthol cigarettes, compared with 18% of white smokers, according to the California Department of Public Health. In summary. The California state legislature passed a ban on Newports and other menthol cigarettes, following a similar measure approved in Massachusetts last year. It also does not apply to Internet sales of flavored products. As medical facilities throughout L.A. County experience an onslaught of COVID-19 patients, officials warn that only the sickest should be sent to the ER. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Supporters of the flavored tobacco sales ban accused signature gatherers of misleading voters by telling them the petitions were for a measure to ban sales of flavored tobacco products to minors, a charge the coalition denied. The holidays can be brutal for children of alcoholics, especially amid a pandemic that traps families at home. They estimate sales of menthol products alone will bring the industry $1.1 billion in revenue during the 22 months that California’s law would be delayed. Today in California there are questionable attempts by the state legislature of California to pass a statewide law that will ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. The companies also filed a federal lawsuit against the state, seeking an injunction to block the new law, arguing it is “an overbroad reaction to legitimate public-health concerns about youth use of tobacco products.”. However, California should note the unintended consequences of an identical tobacco flavor ban have been destructive in Massachusetts, which is on pace to lose over $93 million in tax revenue after becoming the only other state to enforce similar restrictions. Prev Med Rep. 2020 Sep 18;20:101200. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101200. From 2019 to 2020, youth use of e-cigarettes has already dropped almost 30 percent and over 50 percent for high and middle school students, respectively. Black lawmakers called the ads offensive and argued that the tobacco industry has targeted Black and Latino residents with marketing of flavored tobacco products, causing disproportionate harm to their health. There’s only one way to join this exclusive COVID-19 club. In pursuing the referendum, the coalition said it agrees “that youth should never have access to any tobacco products, but this can be achieved without imposing a total prohibition on products that millions of adults choose to use.”, The referendum is one of two prongs of the tobacco industry’s attack on the new law. : Dennis Prager Although federal law bans fruit- and candy-flavored cigarettes, neither federal nor California laws restrict sales of menthol cigarettes or other flavored tobacco products such as cigars, little cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah tobacco, and electronic cigarettes. An exception has been made for hookah and premium cigars, but tobacco manufacturers stand to lose millions in revenue as the ban targets their most popular flavored products. 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