Phased Tobacco Ban Bill Proposed in California

[litup]

AB 935 was introduced in California's assembly yesterday. The bill would prohibit the sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 1, 2007. Any retailers caught breaking this law would be fined $400-$600 for a first offense and the amounts would increase up to $5,000 to $6,000 for a 5th offense over a five-year period. In addition, once the retailer had committed a 3rd, 4th, or 5th offense they'd be reported to the Board of Equalization which would issue another $250 fine and suspend or revoke the retailer's license.

Since it was just proposed yesterday there is obviously plenty of time for this bill to be amended and I don't have any indication yet whether there is widespread support for the bill. I just thought I'd share so people were aware.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB935

 

[litup]

The link above is already broken but I'm not sure why. Hopefully this works better.

AB 935

 

[TheWhale13]

This is literally 1984

 

[Zack Miller]

Didn’t they try this with alcohol about 100 years ago?

 

[Elric]

Didn’t they try this with alcohol about 100 years ago?

But it worked so well!

 

[sjohnston0311]

I want to say it has no chance of passing, but its California so we'll see. If any US state can pull it off it will be them, and then the other nanny states won't be far behind. All the more reason I've been thinking of trying to grow my own.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I am in the camp that is surprised that we've been able to continue buying tobacco for this long. I just don't expect any of this to be available for 20 more years. This is why I stocked up early.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

If I thought it would stop there, I might not care since it doesn't affect anyone but my grandchildren. In my life at least. But if it passes, give it a year or two and there will be more legislation that will be more punitive. And it will keep on happening. That's how the Government works, screws you a little bit at a time.

 

[georged]

Didn’t they try this with alcohol about 100 years ago?

Brewing in a bathtub (so to speak) was doable by anyone, though, with easily obtainable ingredients.

Meaning people could say FU to the government with action that wasn't preventable, and did.

Growing tobacco is several orders of magnitude more difficult to both do and get away with.

My conclusion? Planet Earth's world's "micro controller" Karen-Thing-Creature-Monsters need to be dealt with by society as soon as they reveal themselves.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Growing tobacco is several orders of magnitude more difficult to both do and get away with.

I don't know... I find that a moron like me can do it. It wasn't but just 70 or so years ago, you could still find some locally grown twist and plugs at the General Store.

 

[yanoJL]

So, tobacco is a no.
But Marijuana? No problem.

Well played, California.

 

[sjohnston0311]

So, tobacco is a no.
But Marijuana? No problem.

Well played, California.

Good point. Here in MA, flavored pipe tobacco is illegal to sell because it might appeal to children. But I can go to a dispensary and buy actual candy with THC in it. Because you know... for the children.

 

[mingc]

Nature abhors a vacuum. The drug cartels will gear up. Tobacco will never go away. The ban will just create a new area of endeavor for the law enforcement and prison industrial complex.

 

[NomadOrb]

Won't affect me, but it's only a matter of time before they come up with something else that does. This is ridiculous.

 

[sablebrush52]

I want to say it has no chance of passing, but its California so we'll see.

Oh sweet Jesus, more "it's California" crap. I thought that lobotomies had been outlawed.

I'm a Californian, and I'll tell you that it has no chance of passing. Stupid stuff like this is always getting proposed, people get their panties in a bunch, and it always goes nowhere.

 

[bullet08]

Bootleg from south America. No problem. US government just lost all the tax revenue, and increased illegal item trafficking. When it happens. Sometime later, they will realize they fucked up and go back to tobacco sale. Yupe, we did this before.

 

[sjohnston0311]

Oh sweet Jesus, more "it's California" crap. I thought that lobotomies had been outlawed.

I'm a Californian, and I'll tell you that it has no chance of passing. Stupid stuff like this is always getting proposed, people get their panties in a bunch, and it always goes nowhere.

Well I hope you're right, but you can't tell me California doesn't have a history of passing stupid laws.

 

[TheWhale13]

I really can't stand how people supporting cannabis are so against tobacco. Even if this may not apply here. Marijuana is much more mind altering, and shjould be just as harmful as smoked tobacco. This kind of retoric is quite common among the young left nowadays. But the only people who would argue along those lines are real stupid anyway.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

In Alabama, it was always alcohol. If someone wanted to get elected, they had better kick alcohol in the knees. In the 70's, most of the state was dry, so you could still only buy a beer in maybe four counties. And, just beer or wine. I don't remember ever seeing spirits until the 80's, but there was a pretty large circle of dryness around where I lived.

But, now, the hipsters have brought the state into the 21st century. We have breweries run by hipsters with beards that drag the ground now... and we even have a few distilleries.

But, in the 70's and early 80's, you would be driving along and see a sign with "spirits" written on it, to show you where the bootleggers lived. Usually they had circle driveways, with someone setting next to a refrigerator in the yard. Drive up, and they'd ask, "what can I do for you neighbor?"
There really wasn't any hiding it. Everyone knew. Preacher would be on TV, "what will these politicians do about these bootleggers?" And, come election year, you'd read in the paper Mr soandso gets 25 years in the state pen for bootlegging, and the churches would throw parties. And, the day after the election, the Governor would pardon every last bootlegger that was rounded up.

Everyone knew how it all worked. It was just a game that started a hundred or so years ago.

 

[Arthur Frayn]

Well I hope you're right, but you can't tell me California doesn't have a history of passing stupid laws.

Well played , sir. You agreed with Sablebrush then went ahead and bashed California.