California voters on Tuesday voted to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products throughout the state, implementing a law that tobacco companies had managed to delay since 2020.
The tobacco industry had spent some $25 million to stop the implementation of the 2020 law, but was outspent by the measure’s supporters, who raised $71 million, mostly from billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an anti-vaping proponent.
More than 160 jurisdictions in California had already imposed some sort of localize flavored tobacco ban, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The law bans the sale of flavored tobacco products in storefronts and vending machines statewide. It excludes the sale loose leaf and hookah tobacco, as well as premium cigars. California is now the fifth state to impose such a ban, along with Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.