Transcript: Prop. 31 Asks Whether California Should Ban the Sale of Flavored Tobacco

This is a transcript of the Prop Fest episode explaining Proposition 30 on the 2022 California ballot. Check out KQED’s Voter Guide for more information on local and state races.

Oliva Allen-Price: [00:00:05] Hey, hey, hey. You have made it to the final installment of this year’s Prop Fest series. Well done. We’ve been through six of the propositions on this year’s ballot, giving you the inside scoop, the ins and outs, the ups and downs for each one with some of the smartest reporters in the KQED newsroom. Today, we’re taking on the final measure on the ballot, Proposition 31. It’s all about flavored tobacco. But before we jump in, we want to make sure you’re caught up on some recent political happenings. Back in 2020, California lawmakers passed a bill that would have banned the sale of flavored tobacco products at retail stores. But before it could go into effect, tobacco companies stepped in and got enough signatures to put this issue on the ballot. So now it’s up to California voters to decide whether or not to ban the sale of flavored tobacco. Here’s the title you’ll see on your ballot.

Voice over [00:01:03] Proposition 31, a referendum on the 2020 law that would prohibit the retail sale of certain flavored tobacco products.

Oliva Allen-Price: [00:01:11] If Californians choose to uphold the 2020 law banning flavored tobacco, it would be the fifth state in the U.S. to do so. I’m Olivia Allen-Price. You’re listening to the Big Curious Prop Fest series produced in partnership with the Bay. After the break, we’ll get into the nitty gritty on Proposition 31. To get the full story on Proposition 31, The Bay’s Erica Cruz Guevarra spoke with Lesley McClurg. She’s a health correspondent for KQED.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:01:50] Okay, let’s start super basic here. When we say flavored tobacco, what are we talking about exactly?

Lesley McClurg: [00:01:57] We are talking about the syrupy flavors that you can put in a vape pen so it can be gummy bear or honey or mango or raspberry or you’re talking about more traditional things like menthol cigarets. Companies try to lure you in by bright colors. Sometimes they look kind of like candy products. They have, you know, enticing pictures of palm trees or it’s kind of like a candy aisle, I guess is the best way to describe it.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:02:25] And how aggressive has California been on fighting big tobacco, including more recently flavored tobacco?

Lesley McClurg: [00:02:35] Yes, it’s kind of helpful to go back in history and will highlight that the specifically the Bay Area has been extremely kind of leading on fighting big tobacco. So if you go back into the eighties, the culture back then was very smoke friendly. Here in the Bay Area, even at the UCSF hospital, I learned that the dean of the hospital used to smoke and you could buy Cigarets in the gift shop there. Now, as kind of science began to show that, okay, maybe these things are not so healthy for you. City supervisors put forward in 1983 a bill that if a nonsmoker in the office wanted a space where they wouldn’t have to breathe cigaret smoke, then the office itself had to create a smoking area. The tobacco industry pushed back on that, and by a sweeping majority, city voters voted to uphold that and kind of protect the rights of the nonsmokers across the country. Similar bans unfolded and then eventually, obviously, you have you fast forward to today and you know, no one is smoking in any offices. Then that kind of brings us to 2018, where San Francisco put forward the first and most sweeping legislation to ban flavored tobacco. And that led to the beginning. The first domino kind of falling to now. Today, I think there’s 60 local bans across California banning flavored tobacco products. So then in 2020, there was an effort by State Senator Jerry Hill. He’s a Democrat in San Mateo to put forward a statewide ban against flavored tobacco products. So to take those products off store shelves. That was SB 793.

Sound of legislature: [00:04:19] Bill 793 by Senator Hill, an act relating to tobacco products. Senator Hill, the floor is yours. Thank you.

Lesley McClurg: [00:04:25] The law did not apply to hookah premium cigars, loose leaf tobacco. These were all excluded. And you could still and can still buy flavored tobacco online.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:04:35] What was the rationale behind this law back in 2020?

Lesley McClurg: [00:04:39] It’s kind of the slippery slope. So flavored tobacco products are the beginning where kids may start their addiction to nicotine by picking up these, you know, vaping pens, etc., and then starting a habit that turns into regular cigaret smokers. So it’s the gateway drug, you might say.

Jerry Hill: [00:04:58] The tobacco industry has already introduced the next fad.

Lesley McClurg: [00:05:01] The push by State Senator Jerry Hill at that time was, Hey, hey, if we need to ban these and get this these products off of store shelves to protect future generations.

Jerry Hill: [00:05:11] Well, I am disgusted by the youth e-cigarette epidemic. I am not surprised. It is in line with big tobacco’s long track record of destroying and devastating our communities.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:05:21] So, I mean, that’s pretty straightforward. The argument there behind that law. But how does it bring us to Prop 31?

Lesley McClurg: [00:05:32] Right. So that law really never went into effect. It went into effect, I think, for, you know, a few days, three days after SB 793 went into effect. The tobacco industry proposed a referendum on that law. Here we are two years later with Proposition 31. And basically the tobacco industry is using this referendum to ensure that their flavored tobacco products stay on store shelves across California.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:05:57] So what are we voting on exactly?

Lesley McClurg: [00:06:00] If you vote yes, flavored tobacco products will be banned from store shelves. And these are products, like I’ve said, on, you know, convenience stores and vending machines. Those physical products you won’t be able to buy if you vote. No flavored tobacco will stay on store shelves. And again, either way, flavored tobacco products, you can still, you know, legally purchase those products online and any local bans across the state will remain in place. So you, you know, still wouldn’t be able to do it in, say, San Francisco.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:06:35] In 2021. Federal data show that about 2 million high school students had used tobacco products in the last 30 days, with e-cigarettes being the most popular way of using it. Among those students, about 85% had used a flavored e-cigarette recently. Popularity among minors who can’t buy these products legally is a big reason why supporters of Prop 31 want things like flavored e-cigarettes off store shelves. So it sounds like voting yes means we would uphold the statewide ban, and voting no would mean that this ban is overturned. Who is arguing for Proposition 31 and what is their argument?

Lesley McClurg: [00:07:22] So Jerry Hill is back at it.

Jerry Hill: [00:07:24] When this legislative body passed SB 793 in 2020, it was even further proof that big tobacco doesn’t stand a chance against all the people of California and their elected representatives on both sides of the aisle.

Lesley McClurg: [00:07:37] He is retired, but he and other proponents of Proposition 31 say again. If you maintain these flavored tobacco bans, if you take these products off store shelves, then you’re really protecting kiddos from getting addicted to these products.

Jerry Hill: [00:07:52] Tobacco companies use candy flavors to hide strong hits of nicotine. As we know, a highly addictive drug that is especially dangerous for kids harming brain development and impacting their attention, mood and impulse control.

Lesley McClurg: [00:08:07] You know, if you add fruit, mint menthol, they say it’s kind of a shameless tactic to lure in, you know, new users. And so if we ban these products, it’s kind of the best way to prevent a whole new generation from being addicted to nicotine.

Jerry Hill: [00:08:21] With a yes on 31 vote. We can stop big tobacco from using flavors to get kids hooked on nicotine and profiting from addiction, disease and death.

Lesley McClurg: [00:08:33] There are some medical groups that support, you know, passing Proposition 31, like the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:08:42] The site also says lower income neighborhoods and communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the tobacco industry’s tactics. Those for the ban say the history of marketing targeting African-American neighborhoods has led to more smoking related illness and death and that the ban is necessary to stop the industry’s influence. So it’s pretty clear to me, I think, who is behind this referendum, the tobacco industry. And it is kind of confusing. But they do want you to vote no on Prop 31, which would overturn the ban on flavored tobacco. What is the know sides argument against this?

Lesley McClurg: [00:09:26] Right. So people who are against this say it really unfairly blocks kind of preferred products by millions of adults and they underline adults over and over and over. So Joe Lang, who’s a lobbyist, says, quote, Prop 31 is not a ban on flavored tobacco for children. That’s already illegal.

Joe Lang: [00:09:45] It’s a ban on legal regulated sales to adult consumers.

Lesley McClurg: [00:09:49] And they also kind of underline that the ban could also hurt convenience stores. And I did in my reporting talked to convenience store owners. And, you know, they do say this is a substantial part of their sales.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:10:00] And I know they’re also making this argument that a ban could lead to sort of an underground market. Can you talk a little bit about that argument?

Joe Lang: [00:10:08] Illicit markets are a real problem for Californians. They’re bad for public health precisely because they are made, distributed and sold outside of the law.

Lesley McClurg: [00:10:17] Joe Lang says that would mean that we would not be able to regulate it and we would also lose out on the tax revenue from it. And when you’re not regulating something, you kind of lose control and mostly kids are going to do it anyways. And so we might as well, you know, be regulating it and have some control.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:10:35] And make money off it.

Lesley McClurg: [00:10:37] Exactly.

Joe Lang: [00:10:38] Principles of harm reduction, whether in the context of drugs or any other, dictate that the best way to change harmful adult behavior isn’t to criminalize it, but to provide support, information and choice. In our view, Prop 31 will send California in the wrong direction.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:11:02] Well, let’s move on now, Leslie, to the money behind this and support who is spending and how much has been spent on the yes side versus the no side of this proposition.

Lesley McClurg: [00:11:17] So on the yes side, Michael Bloomberg is kind of leading this effort. Around 8.7 million is the total for the yes side. And then on the no side, it’s about $1.8 million, and that’s led by tobacco companies.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:11:30] Lesley, thank you so much.

Lesley McClurg: [00:11:32] Thank you.

Erica Cruz Guevarra: [00:11:35] In a nutshell, a vote yes on Prop 31 means you want to uphold the 2020 law that bans the retail sale of certain flavored tobacco products. Under the ban, hookah, premium cigars and loose leaf tobacco can still be sold in stores. A vote no means you want to repeal the 2020 law. Keeping the sale of flavored tobacco legal in California, however it is you vote, you can still buy flavored tobacco legally online and local bans won’t be going anywhere.

Oliva Allen-Price: [00:12:14] Okay. Friends, that is a wrap on prop fest. I hope he gave you the answers that you came looking for and even answered some questions that you didn’t know to ask. If you found the series helpful, please share it with your friends, your family, your colleagues, your acquaintances, even. We think that informed voters make the best decisions. So please spread the love. If you missed an episode, you can find them all in our podcast feed or at KQED.org/PropFest. And KQED also has a voter guide with information about all sorts of other races that you’re going to see on your ballot. Find it at KQED.org/VoterGuide.

Oliva Allen-Price: [00:12:58] Prop Fest is made by us at Bay Curious. That’s Katrina Schwartz, Brendan Willard, Darren Tu. Amanda Font and me, Olivia Allen-Price. And the folks who make The Bay: Alan Montecello, maria Esquinca and Erika Cruz Guevarra. Both shows are a production of member supported KQED in San Francisco. Best of luck to you as you fill out your ballot. You got this.