On August 28, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law banning all flavored vaping products and most flavored tobacco products. Before it went into effect, however, the law was put on hold after opponents collected more than a million signatures to pose a question to voters in a statewide "no referendum" in 2022.

On November 8, California voters will have the opportunity to veto a bill passed by the state legislature by rejecting Proposition 31. There is no doubt that e-cigarette users and menthol smokers oppose the ballot initiative. The question is whether enough vapers (and smokers) will make the effort to vote in a non-presidential term.

What will Proposition 31 do?

The ban covers all flavored vaping products sold in brick-and-mortar stores, including zero-nicotine e-liquids and flavor enhancers, which may include single-use DIY blends. The law will also ban menthol cigarettes, flavored cigarillos, snuff and other smokeless tobacco. Premium cigars, pipe tobacco and hookah products are exempt from the ban.

If voters approve the ban, California stores will not sell any flavored vaping products (except tobacco flavors), even if the FDA eventually approves flavored products. The law won't ban the online sale of flavored e-cigarettes, but California has made the process somewhat difficult.

If passed, the flavor ban would go into effect immediately after the vote, possibly within days.

Four other states—Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island—have now passed flavored vaping bans in late 2019 or early 2020.

How to Register and Vote in California

Voting in California is a completely painless process. Universal mail-in ballots remove any excuse for not voting against Proposition 31.

California residents can register to vote online or in person by Oct. 24, vote by mail as long as the ballot is postmarked by Nov. 8, or drop in-person ballots by Nov. 8. There is also a process for registering after the deadline and for conditional voting.

Who supports and opposes Proposition 31?

Nearly all public health and tobacco control groups, as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and most Democratic politicians, support Proposition 31. CPC funding has been dominated by billionaire anti-nicotine activist Michael Bloomberg, who has contributed more than $4 million to the cause.

While the e-cigarette and nicotine consumer group CASAA is urging a no-vote on Proposition 31, all of California's organized support (and funding) to block a flavor ban has come from the tobacco industry.

Californians opposed to the law against Prohibition are funded almost entirely by tobacco giants Philip Morris USA (a division of Altria Group) and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. (a subsidiary of British American Tobacco). Every major cigarette company has contributed more than $10 million to the cause.