Market & regulatory data for the vapour sector in California

8th July 2024: US - Los Angeles metropolitan area: The Los Angeles Sparks basketball team has announced a partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for its 2024 season. This is part of a multi-year campaign that aims to bring awareness to the dangers of vaping and of finding ways to manage stress instead of turning to vaping.
1st July 2024: US - California: A new tax rate on tobacco products comes into force today. The tax will change from 56.32% of the wholesale cost to 52.92%, and runs until 30th June 2025.
29th May 2024: US - California: The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) has published a notice with a new tax rate for tobacco products, which will apply from 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2025. Currently, the tax on tobacco products is 56.32% of the wholesale cost and will be changed to 52.92%. “Tobacco products” are defined to include any nicotine-containing products, including synthetic nicotine.
2nd May 2024: US - California: Attorney general Rob Bonta has announced that the California Department of Justice is now accepting proposals for the 2024-2025 Tobacco Grant Program, which aims to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products by providing approximately $28.5m in grant funding to eligible local agencies. The programme aims to reduce childhood addiction to tobacco products by supporting local partners who enforce the statewide retail flavour ban and similar local ordinances, and prosecute and penalise retailers who sell or market tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.
2nd May 2024: US - Federal: The US Marshals Service seized more than 45,000 unauthorised e-cigarette products valued at more than $700,000 in California. The seized products were mostly flavoured, disposable e-cigarette products, among them brands such as Puff Bar/Puff, Elf Bar/EB Design, Esco Bar and others. Brian King, director of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products, said: “FDA has been unequivocally clear that we are committed to using the full scope of our enforcement tools including seizures to hold those who peddle unauthorised e-cigarettes accountable. The writing is on the wall for those in the tobacco product supply chain who fail to heed the law.” This action represents the first time the FDA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have seized tobacco products in coordination with the US Marshals Service.
19th February 2024: US - California: Assembly Bill 3218 has been introduced, which would require the attorney general to establish and maintain a list of tobacco product brand styles that lack a characterising flavour on their website. The list would be known as the Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL). This bill would prohibit a distributor from selling any tobacco product – the definition of which includes e-cigarettes in California – that is not listed on the UTL. Currently, only cigarettes are listed in the tobacco directory.
6th February 2024: US - North Carolina: North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein announced the launch of an online, searchable public depository that will contain nearly four million documents from the state’s lawsuit against e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs. The depository was created and is being housed by the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill Libraries and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). The first 50,000 documents are now available online in the UCSF Industry Documents Library, and according to Stein, additional documents will be added monthly. “We insisted on a publicly accessible database of Juul’s documents to ensure transparency,” said Stein. “We want people to understand what Juul did so this never happens again.” The documents include information about Juul’s business practices, research, advertisement, marketing, and sales data.
9th January 2024: US - Federal: Yesterday (8th January), the US Supreme Court declined to hear tobacco company RJ Reynolds' challenge to a California law banning the sale of flavoured tobacco products, thus leaving the ban in place, Reuters reports. This comes after many unsuccessful attempts to prevent this law coming into effect.
11th December 2023: US - California: San Francisco city attorney David Chiu announced that the city is suing three online tobacco retailers for unlawfully selling flavoured e-сigarettes to consumers in San Francisco. “We are bringing our lawsuit to send a clear message to tobacco retailers that selling their products will not be tolerated in San Francisco,” Chiu said. He also said his office obtained from the three sellers disposable vape liquid with fruit and dessert flavours “designed to appeal to young people”. The city attorney said the companies shipped the products to San Francisco “in violation of the law”. Sales of flavoured tobacco products have been banned in San Francisco since 2018.
14th September 2023: US - California: Bill AB 935 has passed the Senate after amendments, which have been concurred in by the House, and has now been sent for the governor to sign. The bill would provide for the enforcement of violations of the flavoured tobacco prohibition in a manner similar to the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act. Instead of an infraction, the provisions of the flavoured tobacco ban would be punishable by civil penalties.
16th March 2023: US - California: A US federal judge has granted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by RJ Reynold and other tobacco companies against California’s statewide ban on the sale of flavoured tobacco and vaping products. Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo said: “SB 793 does not control the retail sales of these products in other states, nor does it control the ability of manufacturers in or outside of California to continue manufacturing flavored tobacco products. In fact, manufacturers are still permitted to manufacture flavored tobacco products in California.” Reynolds and others brought the suit after California’s voters approved the ban in a November referendum. They claimed the law violated both the federal Tobacco Control Act (TCA) and the commerce clause in the US Constitution.
28th February 2023: US - California: The US Supreme Court has declined to hear a petition from RJ Reynolds Vapor and two other companies seeking to overturn Los Angeles County’s ban on flavoured tobacco products. Reynolds sued over the ban shortly after it took effect in 2020, arguing that only the federal government has the legal authority to regulate tobacco products.

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