Mayor Eric Garcetti says it appears likely. Black markets were more than happy to traffic newly illegal flavored tobacco products from neighboring states. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS. SB 793, a bill making its way through the California State Legislature, is our state’s chance to finally stand up to Big Tobacco and say no to the sale of menthol cigarettes in our communities. L.A. County hospitals running dangerously low on oxygen, supplies as ER units are overwhelmed, Clearing emergency rooms becomes vital as hospitals struggle with critical patients. Menthols … At least one person on board suspected why Isaias Hernandez had fallen ill on the United Airlines flight to LAX. 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. But on a scary, snowy night decades ago, the chaos of my mother’s drinking finally gave way to a real Christmas miracle. Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch sold to billionaire. California must ban menthol cigarettes to protect Black lives from Big Tobacco’s greed By Karen Bass Special to The Sacramento Bee July 16, 2020 05:00 AM , 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. Festivus grievances from our editorial board Patrick McGreevy is a reporter covering California state government and politics in the Sacramento Bureau. It also does not apply to Internet sales of flavored products. Pope Francis has made a Christmas Day appeal to nations to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are available for everyone. : Dennis Prager 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.”. Prev Med Rep. 2020 Sep 18;20:101200. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101200. 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. The referendum was criticized Tuesday by Lindsey Freitas, advocacy director for Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a leading supporter of the new law. April 2020 This chart provides select examples1 of U.S. cities and counties that restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products. 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. What happened to the Golden State? Why is that metric important? The coroner in Jefferson Parish, La. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the flavored tobacco ban bill … America’s long history of White House infighting 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. Cigarette use in California, and across the country, has been falling for decades. He is a native of San Diego and a graduate of San Jose State University. Menthol cigarettes have long been on policy makers' radar. 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. In summary. Public health officials are anxiously tracking the capacity of intensive care units as coronavirus case numbers surge. The California state legislature passed a ban on Newports and other menthol cigarettes, following a similar measure approved in Massachusetts last year. The ban includes the sale of everything from menthol cigarettes to e-cigarette flavors, except tobacco. To win legislative approval, the bill exempted hookah, expensive cigars and flavored pipe tobacco. Gavin Newsom, who signed the new law in August, denounced the referendum effort when it launched. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions. A more-or-less identical flavor ban went into effect in Los Angeles County earlier this year and when the tobacco industry attempted to challenge it in court, the case was thrown out. The late pop star’s Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, near Santa Barbara, has found a new owner in billionaire businessman Ron Burkle. Photo by Lindsay Fox/Ecigarettereviewed.com Anti-smoking groups hailed the ban, which restricts sale and consumption of flavored vaping products immediately and does the same for menthol cigarettes starting June 1, 2020. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. 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 … Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com. New York lawmakers could ban flavored tobacco products including menthol cigarettes amid growing concern over the tobacco industry's use of flavorings to … Coalition Continues to Grow in Opposition to California's Proposed Menthol Cigarette BanPR NewswireLOS ANGELES, Aug. 4, 2020"These kinds of bans and prohibitions only license the … The largest tobacco manufacturers are suing California to prevent its broad tobacco flavor ban. California Supreme Court allows murder charge in stillborn fetus case. Related Articles How an L.A. indie bookstore’s GoFundMe inspired a small business lifeline. California is the second state, following Massachusetts, to ban all tobacco flavors, including menthol. Californians have realized that smoking almost always lowers one’s life expectancy and brings painful diseases at the end of life. Jane and Raymond Wurwand commit $1 million in grants to support small businesses in Los Angeles County struggling to survive COVID-19. There’s only one way to join this exclusive COVID-19 club. Newsom will enter quarantine again after coronavirus exposure. 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. 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 Trump election fraud story has the TV news biz asking. 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. (Joe Raedle / … Why this one isn’t working as well. If the Secretary of State’s office determines there is a sufficient number of signatures to qualify the referendum, the new law, which was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, would be suspended until the voters act on the ballot measure in November 2022. Abolish civil asset forfeiture 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. The coalition has received more than $21 million so far, largely from companies including Philip Morris USA and its affiliated U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., as well as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Trump’s repeatedly discredited attempt to overturn the November results has been given continued sustenance by the Fox News star. He previously worked in the Los Angeles City Hall Bureau for The Times. On August 28, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 793, prohibiting the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. Menthol cigarettes have long been on policy makers' radar. eCollection 2020 Dec.ABSTRACTThis study measures the availability of menthol cigarettes in Oakland, California where such products were banned from the majority of tobacco retailers, except for those who sold a significant amount of tobacco (e.g., 60% gross income). “In the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, raging wildfires, heatwaves and power outages across the state, more than one million Californians signed petitions for the right to have their voice heard on an unfair law that benefits the wealthy and special interests while costing jobs and cutting funding for education and healthcare,” the statement said. 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. confirmed that suspicion a week later, listing “acute respiratory failure; COVID-19" as the cause of death. Meanwhile the state is preserving the legality of tobacco products mostly used by white people. “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. And the recent acceleration of smoking cessation is disproportionately the consequence of smokers switching to much-safer vaping products, the vast majority of which are flavored. “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 … It excludes hookah and some cigars. 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 . 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. And menthol cigarettes aren’t uniquely addictive or appealing to youth. What happened to Maria Bartiromo? 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 lawmakers are poised to vote on a statewide ban on flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. 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. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. California has banned Newports and other menthol cigarettes, following a similar measure approved in Massachusetts last year. Column: The worst Christmas I ever had was the one that changed my life. Unfortunately for big tobacco, they don’t have much of a case. 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. We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. When California state … Additionally, the motivation for California’s “Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement” Act, is built on a false premise. Restricting the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products is a promising equity-focused strategy for countering the tobacco industry’s … The majority young people who smoke prefer regular cigarettes. The California state legislature passed a ban on Newports and other menthol cigarettes, following a similar measure approved in Massachusetts last year. 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. The coalition of tobacco companies repeated their charge on Tuesday. But the delay will be costly and deadly.”. State lawmakers are moving to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars. Opponents needed to collect the signatures of 623,312 registered voters to quality the referendum. 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 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. 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. Cigarettes and e-cigarettes on display at a gas station in Newport Beach, California, in 2016. accused signature gatherers of misleading voters, Gov. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. August 29, 2020 / 11:39 AM / CBS News Starting January 1, it will be illegal to sell most flavored tobacco products in California. On United Airlines flight to LAX, he gave CPR to man dying of COVID-19. A needed challenge to Newsom’s one-man rule 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 … The signatures were submitted to the state by the California Coalition for Fairness, which said in a statement Tuesday that its signature drive showed that voters are put off by the new law. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 793 into law, banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in the state, effective … By Guy Bentley and Jacob James Rich March 4, 2020 State lawmakers are moving to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and cigars. GET BREAKING NEWS IN YOUR BROWSER. As they argue, the Tobacco Control Act does prevent states and local governments from setting their own tobacco product standards, but the same page of this restriction explicitly states any government can still prohibit any class of tobacco product for any age group. In fact, states with higher distribution rates of menthol relative to regular cigarettes actually have lower rates of youth smoking. Gov. L.A. County records 140 COVID-19 deaths in one day, a new record. Despite Brexit, this ban also applies to the UK and includes capsule, click on, click & roll, crushball or dual menthol cigarettes, and excludes vaping and heated tobacco products. 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. California once quelled COVID with stay-at-home order. Marjorie Leach, 101, is one of those men and women who are at least 100 years old and have survived COVID-19. About 70% of Black smokers in California smoke menthol cigarettes, compared with 18% of white smokers, according to the California Department of Public Health. 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. California Bans Menthol Cigarettes Starting January 1, the state is set to join Massachusetts in prohibiting sales of all flavored tobacco products. 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. “This is Big Tobacco’s latest attempt to profit at the expense of our kids’ health,” Newsom said at the time. The tobacco industry wants to overturn a law banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in California. 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. Pope’s Christmas Day plea: Make COVID-19 vaccines available for everybody. L.A. County is testing to see if a more contagious coronavirus strain is in the community. 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. The largest tobacco manufacturers are suing California to prevent its broad tobacco flavor ban. 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. 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. 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? California is inviting an even larger black market to develop. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Packages of Juul mint flavored e-cigarettes are displayed at a San Rafael, California smoke shop. “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. : Dennis Prager, A needed challenge to Newsom’s one-man rule, Festivus grievances from our editorial board. 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. The holidays can be brutal for children of alcoholics, especially amid a pandemic that traps families at home. 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. “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. L.A. County is probing whether a new, more contagious COVID strain is spreading locally. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 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. 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. 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 high cost of qualifying the referendum and delaying the law for nearly two years would be eclipsed by the profits the industry would make selling flavored tobacco products in the meantime, supporters of the ban say. Jacob James Rich is a policy analyst at Reason Foundation, a free market think tank, and an opportunity fellow at Young Voices. Other states including New York and New Jersey have banned flavored e … 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. A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Dec. 10. “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. 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