Applauding California’s ban on flavored tobacco

Kaiser Permanente commends California voters for passing Proposition 31 on November 8. The successful referendum allows implementation of a bipartisan law passed and signed in 2020 that bans the sale and distribution of flavored tobacco, including mint, menthol, and fruit-flavored products.

“This statewide ban on flavored tobacco is a landmark for health,” said Bechara Choucair, MD, Kaiser Permanente senior vice president and chief health officer. “Taking flavored e-cigarettes off the shelves will support the work Kaiser Permanente does every day to keep kids away from tobacco. It also marks the end of the decades-long, unjust promotion of highly addictive mint and menthol cigarettes to Black communities in California.”

We supported the original law and joined the coalition, organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to enact it. Our physicians appeared in advertisements illustrating our clinical reasons for supporting the measure, including the numerous ways nicotine can adversely affect the health and development of youth.

We are committed to being a strong voice in advocating for laws at the local, state, and federal levels to protect our youth from these products. Our goal is a tobacco-free nation.