SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The City of Sacramento moved Tuesday to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, an ordinance that will take effect on January 1, 2020.
City leaders say the ban is meant to keep these products from getting into the hands of young people. Other California cities including Berkley and San Francisco have imposed similar bans.
Some asked on the ABC 10 Facebook page whether there was proof that young people are using these products. Recent data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that the use of tobacco products by teens is skyrocketing.
An estimated 3.4 million middle and high school students used tobacco in 2017, according to the CDC. That number grew by more than 38 percent to 4.9 million middle and high school students in 2018.
The CDC also found that 7 out of 10 teenagers who admit to using tobacco products are also using flavored products.
Now, it’s important to take a look back at Sacramento’s history on the topic. The city’s recent regulations are actually amending rules that were passed back in 2004, which were also put in place to crack down on underage tobacco sales.
That came at a time when the Sacramento County Health Department found that an estimated 25 percent of Sacramento tobacco retailers surveyed, had sold tobacco illegally to minors.
Between 2004 and 2019, a number of state and federal laws were passed hoping to prevent teens from getting a hold of the addictive nicotine-containing products.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act in 2009, which banned candy and fruit-flavored tobacco products. Although 82 percent of tobacco retailers sell flavored non-cigarette tobacco products, according to a study by the California Department of Public Health.
In 2016, California lawmakers raised the purchasing age of tobacco products from 18 years old to 21 years old. There are also two current bills being considered at the state level that would regulate tobacco products even further.
Senate Bill 38 would outright ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products across the state.
Senate Bill 39 would impose stricter age verification requirements for tobacco products sold online or by mail. It would require plainly marked packaging and require a signature from a 21-year-old before the product could be delivered.
Read the Sacramento City Ordinance for yourself by clicking here.
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