Measures in the fight on tobacco and e-cigarettes

Proposals in the Legislature would:

• Make California the first state to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products, from 18 to 21. (SB 151)

• Raise cigarette taxes by $2 a pack. (SB 591)

• Direct some of those tax funds to Medi-Cal, California’s healthcare program for the poor, to help cover medical costs for those with tobacco-related illnesses. (AB 1396)

• Ban electronic cigarettes from bars, restaurants, theaters and other public places where smoking is already prohibited. (SB 140)

• Bar smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco, in the state’s major league baseball stadiums and at venues where other organized baseball is played. (AB 768)

• Expand the current ban on sales of e-cigarettes with nicotine cartridges to minors, so that it includes vapor devices without nicotine, because cartridges can be purchased separately. (AB 216)

• Include e-cigarettes in a special enforcement program against the sale of cigarettes to minors. (SB 24)

• Strengthen existing law prohibiting online marketing of tobacco to minors. (AB 1541)

• Make tobacco cessation services a covered Medi-Cal benefit. (AB 1162)

• Ban sales of cigarettes containing single-use filters, which often end up as litter. A similar bill went nowhere last year. (AB 48)

Source: California Legislative Information website