California’s Proposition 31, an extreme limit on the in-store and online sales of flavored nicotine products, was approved Dec. 21, 2022. With its approval, Senate Bill 793 went into effect, officially prohibiting the sale of most flavored nicotine products, specifically electric nicotine vapes targeted towards teenagers and youth.

In addition to this, Proposition 31 banned nicotine pouches (due to addictive and appealing flavors), menthol cigarettes, flavored small cigars, and flavorless smokeless tobacco.

Almost all California tobacco and nicotine products must be tobacco flavored when in-store, and online, flavored products must bypass strict limits to be legally sold and bought.

The Committee to Protect California Kids funded the “Yes on Prop 31” campaigns and promotion – nearly $47 million in total. This was almost entirely contributed by previous New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Though over 60% of California residents voted “Yes” on the proposition, many disagreed heavily with the campaigning done by Bloomberg and others. Californians Against Prohibition, one group who promoted voting “No” on the ballot, had more than $18 million contributed by two major tobacco companies.

But for some, it was more than just an economical question. Some smokers and users had concerns not at all centered around raising revenue from nicotine that tasted like candy.

Banning flavored nicotine products had the intention of slowing addiction rates. As Bloomberg said, these products “are a known gateway to a lifetime of tobacco use, which is one of the leading contributors to disease and death across the [country]”.

However, this ban may just mean turning addictions somewhere else, somewhere more harmful to one’s health: cigarettes.

Attorney and American Vaping Association president Gregory Conley tweeted, “Very sorry to California vapers who will find it easier to buy Marlboros than e-liquid.”