California lawmakers look to take a major step forward in phasing out tobacco by banning the sale of all tobacco products to anyone born after 2006.

Assembly bill 935, authored by Assembly member Damon Connolly, D-San Rafael, is similar to laws in countries like Norway, New Zealand and the Philippines.

“By phasing out the use of these harmful products, we can ensure that the next generation of children in California do not become addicted to smoking,” Connolly said.

Youth tobacco use has decreased over the last few years. According to the California Department of Public Health, in 2020, 8% of high school youth reported using tobacco compared to 13.5% in 2016.

AB 935 would impose a fine on retailers from selling any tobacco product to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2007.

“This bill will not affect anyone who is currently of legal age and able to purchase tobacco products. And will not punish individuals for simply using or possessing these items,” Connolly said.

Queonte Auque, owner of Crown’d Smoke Shop in Sacramento, has had to navigate his business after the passage of a state law that banned flavored tobacco.

The business owner says the flavored tobacco ban greatly impacted sales, and the proposed legislation would be a huge hurdle to overcome.

“It’s really scary and I’m really afraid that I might have to go back to working for someone else,” Auque said.

Auque opened Crown’d smoke shop with his fiancée during the pandemic. Before that, he and his wife were bus drivers for Google in the Bay Area and worked long hours.

“The hours that we were working for someone else were really hard and we got tired of doing that — sleeping in cars at the job so we can wake up in the morning — getting to see our kids only on the weekends,” Auque said.

The smoke shop has given Auque more financial freedom and allowed him to spend more time with his family.

“We really put our blood, sweat and tears in this thing and our last bit of our money is in here… once it was finished, we were crying, we were so happy,” Auque adds.

Charles Janigian, with the California Association of Retail Tobacconists, criticized AB 935, calling it the most shocking piece of tobacco-focused legislation.

“[AB 935] is going to do more to drive people to the Black Market and hurt small businesses,” Janigian said.

Connolly notes the point of AB 935 is to not go after small businesses, but to prevent future generations from becoming addicted to nicotine.

“Smoking tobacco is widely recognized as the leading preventable cause of death in the world. These products are lethal — known to cause cancer and significantly decrease the longevity and quality of life,” Connolly said.

Tobacco products are heavily taxed in California. By phasing out these products, there is concern about the loss of tax dollars that go toward funding important services like health care and childhood development.

According to data from the California Department of Tax and Fee Regulation, $1.5 billion in tax revenue was generated from cigarette sales in California in 2021.

“There are a lot of state programs that are actually really good that are currently funded by tobacco money,” Connolly said.

Connolly emphasizes his bill will lead to more tax savings that will make up for the revenue lost by the loss in tobacco sales.

“There will be tax savings when you look at the tremendous impacts of nicotine and tobacco on our public health system,” Connolly said.

The Bay Area legislator also points out that future funds raised by the fines for violating the bill could also be used to help negate the decreased tax revenue.

Civil penalties would start at around $400-600 and would increase for each violation. Included in the bill is if retail stores violate multiple times, they could have their tobacco retail license suspended or revoked.

The first hearing for the bill hasn’t been scheduled yet, but Auque says he will be there to testify on behalf of small business owners.

“It’s really scary and I’m really afraid that I might have to go back to working for someone else,” Auque said.

If the bill gets signed into law, it will go into effect Jan. 1. 2028.

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