Flavored Tobacco Ban
Prohibition is a mistake. Tax it instead of banning it.
Don’t ban flavored tobacco products.
Background
In 2020, the Legislature passed SB 793, which bans the sale of flavored tobacco products in California. Prop 31 is a referendum on SB 793: if it passes, the ban is upheld; if it fails, the ban is overturned (this seems backwards to me but anyways).
The legislative analyst projects these fiscal impacts:
Decreased state tobacco tax revenues ranging from tens of millions of dollars annually to around $100 million annually.
These revenues mostly fund health care, and also fund early childhood programs, tobacco control, medical research, and other programs.
Decision
Why would we ban these tobacco products and defund these programs?
Alcohol prohibition was a mistake. Cannabis prohibition is a mistake. Psychedelics prohibition is a mistake.
Prohibition is a mistake.
If we want to discourage flavored tobacco use, let’s tax it. As the American Lung Association summarizes of Tauras (2001):
Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by about four percent among adults and about seven percent among youth.
Let’s not sacrifice tax revenue and risk repeating the mistakes of the past. Vote no on Prop 31.
These recommendations are my own, and do not reflect positions of organizations I’m associated with.