In an effort to reduce plastic pollution in the state, lawmakers in California announced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit the sale of disposable vaporizers.
In recent years, the state has also enacted legislation prohibiting the sale of single-use plastic carryout bags at grocery shops, Styrofoam food containers, and single-use plastic drinks in hotels.
Vapes, often known as electronic cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that release nicotine or cannabis into the air, frequently along with flavorings and other additives. Both disposable and refillable solutions are available; California’s proposal would explicitly address those that are intended to be discarded after only one use.
Bans on single-use vape sales have been contemplated or authorized in several nations; one in Belgium will go into effect on January 1st, while another in the UK is scheduled to start in June. However, California would probably be the first state in the US to implement such a law. Earlier attempts in New York and California have not succeeded.
Starting on January 1, 2026, the California measure would outlaw the distribution or sale of brand-new or reconditioned disposable vaporizers in the state. According to the plan, individuals who violate the ban for the first time could be fined $500 by the state or municipal governments, $1,000 for the second infraction, and $2,000 for successive infractions.
According to the bill’s sponsor, Assembly member Jacqui Irwin, it will lessen the amount of battery acid that leaks into lands and rivers from single-use vapes.
At a press conference in Sacramento, the Democrat from Southern California stated, “AB 762 will help us move away from these dangerous single-use devices.”
A similar 2022 proposal was opposed by the California Grocers Association, which claimed it may encourage more tobacco smuggling.
The proposed bill would put a hardship on family-run companies that offer tobacco goods, according to Arkan Somo, a co-founder of the Neighborhood Market Association, a coalition of small businesses in California.
“If we’re going to take the environment as an excuse to keep banning these products, where is that going to stop?” Somo stated. “They’re really putting California at a huge disadvantage.”
In recent years, the state has authorized more steps to control the sale of vape pens. In 2020, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation prohibiting the sale of the majority of flavored tobacco products in an effort to stop minors from using them.
The risks that vapes represent to public health have been the focus of many recent state restrictions. According to the U.S. government, California and over 30 other states have enacted legislation mandating an e-cigarette tax. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.
The selling of e-cigarettes to minors is already prohibited in every state in the United States.
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Tony Hackett, a policy associate with Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit organization that supports the bill, stated that although these items destroy our earth, they also target our most vulnerable citizens: our children. “Disposable vapes are designed for maximum addiction and minimum accountability.”
According to Carolina Saavedra, a staff attorney with the Public Health Law Center at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Minnesota, one factor contributing to the popularity of disposable vapes is their frequent accessibility and lower cost compared to refillable devices.
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However, according to the CDC, e-cigarette waste can include chemical pollutants, heavy metals, and dangerous lithium-ion batteries that can cause fires. According to Saavedra, the California bill is a “exciting step” in addressing that issue.
“Continuing to push this conversation and highlight the costliness of this problem and how little — if any — benefits at all these items bring, that’s going to be huge,” she stated.
