Proliferation of ‘non-menthol cigarettes amid a state-wide flavour ban

Tobacco flavour bans are becoming more prevalent across states and localities in the USA. In August 2020, the California state legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 793, which ‘prohibits a tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco retailer’s agents or employees, from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavoured tobacco product or a tobacco product flavour enhancer’, with the exception of hookah tobacco/shisha and premium cigars.1 ‘Flavoured tobacco products’ are defined in the bill as any tobacco product containing a constituent that imparts a characterising flavour other than tobacco.2 However, the bill faced legal challenges and a signature-gathering campaign led by the tobacco industry, leading to its inclusion on the ballot for the general election (Proposition 31). On 8 November 2022, voters in the US state of California passed Proposition 31 (with 63.4% of the vote) and…

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