California Wants To Increase Vaping Taxes, But Experts Say There Could Be Unintended Consequences
Health advocates say a tax has the potential to deter kids from vaping
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has a new idea for addressing the youth vaping epidemic: a nicotine tax on electronic cigarettes.
The governor, like many state and federal health officials, is concerned about the rising number of teens inhaling nicotine through products from Juul Labs Inc. — a company that makes a type of e-cigarette shaped like a USB flash drive.
The Juul has a small “pod” that clicks into the top, filled with an e-liquid (nicotine plus flavoring and other ingredients) which heats up and creates vapor. The larger pod that Juul sells contains about 40 milligrams of nicotine.
Newsom is proposing a $2 tax for every 40 milligrams of nicotine in an e-cigarette. The tax would begin Jan. 2021, and would add to the state’s tobacco product tax, which already applies to the device.
Could price increases stop kids from vaping?
Health advocates say a tax has the potential to deter kids from vaping. Cigarette sales dropped when California raised the tobacco tax in 2017.
“Taxation is traditionally a tactic that we’ve used to combat youth use of tobacco products, and it’s been effective,” said Lindsey Freitas, advocacy director with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. “Youth are a lot more price-sensitive to those products.”
The proposed nicotine-based e-cigarette tax would generate an estimated $32 million in its first year. The money would fund administration, enforcement, youth prevention, and heath care workforce programs, according to the budget summary. California is one of nine states that taxes vapor products as of Jan. 1, 2019.
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