Disposable nicotine vapes would be banned in California if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs a bill passed this week by the state Legislature.
If the Democratic governor signs Assembly Bill 762 into law, Californians would be banned from importing or manufacturing disposable tobacco vapes for sale beginning Jan. 1. Starting Jan. 1, 2028, state residents would be banned from selling, distributing or offering new or refurbished disposable vapes for sale.
The legislation, which was passed by the California State Assembly Wednesday, defines the disposable vapes as “a vaporization device that contains a tobacco product, as defined, but not cannabis or a cannabis product, as defined, and that is not designed or intended to be reused, as specified.”
Vaporizer devices for tobacco products would need to be refillable or use separate, replaceable containers for vaporizer liquid, and have rechargeable batteries to be legal in California.
Americans discard almost 500,000 disposable vapes each day, according to the California affiliate of the Public Interest Research Group consumer advocacy organization.
Disposable vapes leak the toxic substances used to produce them, including battery acid, microplastics and metals such as cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, lithium, nickel and zinc, according to the Los Angeles Times. They also pose a fire risk.
In a statement from CALPIRG, Joe La Mariana with the South Bayside Waste Management Authority said “disposable vapes contain lithium-ion batteries which can’t be removed. If struck or crushed, they cause catastrophic fires in garbage trucks and sorting facilities. These costs get passed on to ratepayers.”
Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, a Democrat and the bill’s author, said in the CALPIRG statement that “we are hopeful the governor will recognize the threat these devices pose to our communities and that the costs of cleaning up the mess these devices leave are borne by ratepayers.”
Vaping industry groups say the bill would hurt efforts to get Californians to stop smoking cigarettes.
“Vaping is the single most popular and effective method for Americans to quit smoking cigarettes, and it’s an absolute outrage that states like California are trying to deprive ordinary people of that life-saving product, and no state has driven more people back to combustible cigarettes than California has,” American Vapor Manufacturers spokesperson Jim McCarthy said this year, according to industry news site Nicotine Insider.
