GET OUTSIDE THE HUMIDOR

WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including tobacco smoke, which is known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

Smoking cigars casues lung cancer, heart disease, and emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy.

The California Association of Retail Tobacconists (CART) publicly opposed it. CART argued the proposal was overburdensome for c-stores and other retailers and expressed concern regarding the state’s capacity to enforce another new regulation.

“Since the enforcement date (for the flavor ban) of Dec. 21, 2022, neither the State of California nor the Department of Health and Human Services (the agency responsible for enforcement) has issued a list of banned products to retailers,” stated Charles Janigian, president of CART. “With no official list of banned products, distributors, wholesalers and retailers have been stuck with vast amounts of inventory pulled from shelves out of an abundance of caution. This has caused additional economic losses for our members on top of the losses in sales.”

AB 935 was ultimately put on hold in mid-April and amended to focus on the state’s flavor ban, but it shows the intensity of the tobacco legislative environment today and could set the stage for other states to attempt similar legislation.

Likewise, Nevada AB 294 looked to remove flavored tobacco products and restrict cigarette purchases from people turning 21 as soon as January 2024, while banning all cigarette sales by 2030, but it failed in committee in mid-April.

“So far during the 2023 state legislative sessions, 14 states have introduced bills to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, flavored smokeless products, flavored pipe tobacco, flavored cigars and flavored electronic cigarettes/nicotine products,” said Thomas Briant, executive director, National Association of Tobacco Outlets.

On the East Coast, the South Carolina Legislature is weighing two laws. S.414 would exclude local governments from creating and enforcing rules on tobacco and nicotine products. Senators sponsoring the bill assert statewide enforcement would better serve businesses and citizens. S.514 says minors will not be physically allowed to enter retailers that primarily sell tobacco products. Although that portion of the bill pertains almost exclusively to vape and smoke shops, it also creates a tobacco retail sales license for any store selling tobacco or nicotine. At the moment, South Carolina does not have a license mandate.

A few other state highlights include:

• Arkansas HB 1725 — Requires a directory of vape products that have Premarket Tobacco Applications (PMTAs) and the prohibition of any product not in the directory by July 1, 2024. The bill is still in committee.

• Idaho HB 330 — The new cigar tax cap of 50 cents per cigar was signed into law on April 4 and will be implemented July 1.

• Oregon HB 3090 — A ban on flavored tobacco and vapor products takes effect July 1, 2024. Hookah lounges remain exempt.

Also this spring, the U.S. Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled against R.J. Reynolds and in favor of the city of Edina, Minn., to uphold its 2020 ban on flavored tobacco. Lang’s One Stop Market was one of the two local convenience stores that signed onto the lawsuit against the city.

“(One of the) reasons I was frustrated enough to participate in the lawsuit was because the ordinance was passed without public input,” said Anita Lang, owner, Lang’s One Stop Market.

During the legal proceedings, Lang watched customers cross city lines to buy e-cigarettes, vapes and other flavored tobacco options.

“I was anticipating a loss of revenue of about 50–60% and that has proven to be accurate,” she said. “We made adjustments back then by pulling all flavors and bringing in a few more products that we didn’t have the room for before. I am also now selling CBD products and have applied for a license to sell THC as another revenue source.”

“Now, Democratic leaders are trying to ban all flavored tobacco in Minnesota, not just in certain cities,” added Lance Klatt, executive director for the Minnesota Service Station & Convenience Store Association.

Federal Findings

A roundup of tobacco and nicotine legislation wouldn’t be complete without an update of the outstanding PMTAs sitting with the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

To date, FDA has released 23 Marketing Granted Orders for e-cigarette devices and nicotine cartridges, of which none were for flavored items or synthetic nicotine products.

“The FDA has also issued an announcement that it intends to finalize its review by Dec. 31 of the remaining PMTAs for those products with more than 2% market share,” said Briant.

Finally, as of mid-April, the FDA still has not released any new information on its intent to lower nicotine levels. Industry watchers anticipate an update on the proposed rule change this year. CSD

FAST FACTS:

• A South Carolina bill would exclude local governments from creating rules on tobacco and nicotine products.

• A Nevada proposal sought to restrict tobacco purchases from people turning 21 as of January 2024, but was not successful.

• Idaho passed a cigar tax cap of 50 cents per cigar.