SACRAMENTO – The Assembly today, as part of the Legislature’s extraordinary session on health, passed legislation calling for new statewide regulations on electronic cigarettes. SB X2 5, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, protects public health by ensuring that e-cigarettes are accurately defined as tobacco products and fall under the state’s existing smoke-free laws. It also requires that all e-cigarettes and liquids for the devices be sold in child-resistant packaging.
“Big Tobacco’s assault on youth and taxpayers was dealt a major setback today when the Legislature came to the rescue of Californians,” said Senator Leno, D-San Francisco. “Tobacco-free habits save lives and billions of taxpayer healthcare dollars.”
The state’s Smoke Free Act prohibits smoking at workplaces, schools, daycare centers, restaurants, bars, hospitals and on public transportation. It protects Californians from secondhand smoke and reduces the acceptability of smoking in general. E-cigarettes, however, do not fall under this existing law and are largely unregulated, despite the restriction of sales to minors. SB X2 5 closes this loophole and aligns state law with proposed federal regulations that define e-cigarettes as tobacco products. The bill is co-sponsored by a coalition of national health organizations, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association and American Lung Association.
Recent studies have shown that e-cigarettes pose potentially serious health risks to users and those who inhale the secondhand aerosols. In January, the California Department of Public Health confirmed that e-cigarettes emit at least 10 toxic chemicals, including formaldehyde, lead and nickel, found on the state’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.
Research also shows that e-cigarette use is climbing exponentially among young people who are drawn to the products’ enticing flavors like cotton candy, bubble gum and chocolate. E-cigarette use among middle and high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SB X2 5 passed the Senate last August. The Senate must approve technical amendments made to the legislation in the Assembly before it can go to the Governor’s desk.
