California’s prohibition of flavored tobacco sales and the tobacco industry’s attempts to evade it

Lauren Lempert, JD, MPH, Research Specialist at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, Stella Bialous, RN, DrPH, FAAN, Associate Director for Global Tobacco Control Initiatives at CTCRE, and Pamela Ling, MD, MPH, CTCRE Director, are authors of a special communication in the latest issue of Tobacco Control. “California’s prohibition of flavored tobacco sales and the tobacco industry’s attempts to evade it” discusses a 2020 California state law prohibiting retail sales of most flavored tobacco products with ’characterizing flavors’, including menthol, and how major tobacco companies vigorously opposed the law and sought its repeal.

 

This report provides a case study on how other states and localities can enact strong tobacco flavor laws that include specific provisions that protect public health despite industry interference and for other countries seeking to implement forward-looking tobacco control measures consistent with Article 2.1 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.