By comparison, the manufacture down the $80 cardinal U.S. cigaret market, erstwhile a almighty unit successful American politics, has spent $25 cardinal to reason the measure.
Prop. 31 is simply a measurement to uphold oregon repeal SB 793, which banned income of flavored baccy successful stores and vending machines. The inaugural enactment the instrumentality connected clasp and manufacture critics judge the intent was to prolong income arsenic agelong arsenic possible.
Delaying the enactment of SB 793 meant the baccy companies could proceed to instrumentality successful astir $830 cardinal from menthol cigarettes unsocial from erstwhile the caller instrumentality was acceptable to spell into effect successful the opening of 2021, according to the Yes connected Prop 31 campaign.
“The referendum does bargain them a mates of years,” said Andrew Acosta, a Sacramento governmental advisor who is not progressive successful this campaign. “I tin spot it from a calculated, economical position wherefore this makes sense.”
Opponents of the measurement reason that the prohibition is unnecessary due to the fact that it’s already amerciable to merchantability baccy products to radical nether 21. They besides accidental prohibitions, successful general, don’t work.
California has agelong been a pugnacious marketplace for tobacco. It was the archetypal authorities to destruct smoking successful workplaces and bars and has immoderate of the highest baccy taxation rates and lowest smoking rates successful the country.
The national authorities has stepped up its regularisation successful caller years, pulling unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes from the marketplace and, this year, prohibiting the merchantability of Juul products this twelvemonth and proposing a prohibition connected menthol cigarettes and cigars.
“Tobacco companies person been wide for years and years that they bash not privation their vaping products successful the hands of children,” said Beth Miller, spokesperson for the nary connected Prop 31 campaign.
Meanwhile, a increasing fig of section and authorities governments person imposed spirit bans, with much than 130 section governments successful California unsocial taking specified action, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Youth smoking and vaping rates successful California person started to decline, according to information from the California Healthy Kids Survey. But a National Youth Tobacco Survey released past period by national wellness officials showed usage of flavored disposable products is inactive popular, though the 2022 survey is hard to comparison owed to changes successful information postulation procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bloomberg bankrolling Prop. 31 is precise overmuch connected marque for the wellness philanthropist, who funds a wide scope of health-related interests from weapon unit to obesity and chemic pollution. The erstwhile politician successful 2019 pledged to walk $160 cardinal to prohibition flavored e-cigarettes nationwide by the extremity of this year.
He has financed different anti-vaping and flavored baccy initiatives, including San Francisco’s palmy 2018 effort to uphold its sweeping spirit ban. The metropolis went connected to go the archetypal successful the federation to prohibition the merchantability of e-cigarettes entirely. Bloomberg, done a spokesperson, declined to talk to POLITICO astir his spending to enactment Prop. 31.
Lindsay Freitas, California manager for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said she’s grateful for the accidental the Bloomberg backing gives the run to dispersed the word. But she’s not taking thing for granted, and she’s not putting thing past the industry.
“They’ve spent a batch of wealth implicit the years,” she said of the baccy industry. “They spent a ton of wealth successful San Francisco to effort to combat this, they spent a ton of wealth successful Sacramento erstwhile this was going done the legislature, and they’ve spent $20 cardinal to enactment this connected the ballot to get america wherever we are now.”
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