ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION 31

YES ON 31. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association in California and the American Heart Association support Yes on 31 because it will save lives.

Yes on 31 protects kids by ending the sale of candy-flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and minty-menthol cigarettes. Big Tobacco uses candy-flavored products to target kids—including cotton candy, chocolate, strawberry, and minty-menthol—and lure them into a lifelong addiction to nicotine.

In fact, 4 out of 5 kids who have used tobacco started with a flavored product.

Get the facts at VoteYesOn31.com

YES ON 31 PROTECTS KIDS FROM GETTING HOOKED ON HIGHLY ADDICTIVE NICOTINE

Tobacco companies use candy flavors to hide strong hits of nicotine, a highly addictive drug that is especially dangerous for kids, harming brain development and impacting their attention, mood, and impulse control. With a Yes on 31 vote, we can stop Big Tobacco from using flavors to get kids hooked on nicotine and profiting from addiction, disease, and death.

• In California, almost all high school e-cigarette users prefer flavored products.
• Today—over 2 million middle and high school students nationwide use e-cigarettes.

The American Lung Association in California says, “Using candy flavors to trick kids into trying nicotine is the cornerstone of Big Tobacco’s deadly business model. Yes on 31 will save lives—protecting kids from ever getting hooked on tobacco in the first place.”

YES ON 31 SAVES LIVES AND TAXPAYER MONEY

Tobacco is the #1 preventable cause of death in California, where tobacco-related diseases kill 40,000 people each year. Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. Of all the kids who become new smokers each year, almost a third will ultimately die from it.

Every time Big Tobacco addicts another generation of kids, they put taxpayers, whether they smoke or not, on the hook for billions of dollars in tobacco-related healthcare costs.

YES ON 31 PREVENTS BIG TOBACCO FROM CAUSING MORE HARM TO BLACK COMMUNITIES

Big Tobacco preys on Black neighborhoods, spending billions to lobby, advertise and market minty-menthol cigarettes—the original candy-flavored cigarette. In the 1950s, fewer than 10% of Black Americans who smoked used minty-menthols. Today, 85% do.

The NAACP says, “Tobacco companies use minty-menthol to mask the harsh taste of tobacco, which makes smoking easier to start and harder to quit. After targeting African Americans for decades, Big Tobacco is turning an enormous profit—while rates of tobacco-related heart disease, stroke and cancer skyrocket. Yes on 31 will take Big Tobacco’s candy-flavored tools of addiction out of our communities, saving lives and improving public health.”

PROTECT KIDS. VOTE YES ON 31

Yes on 31 will protect kids from ever trying tobacco and help users quit—saving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars annually, and saving countless lives. If we can save even a few lives by ending the sale of candy-flavored tobacco, it will be worth it.

Karmi Ferguson, Executive Director

American Academy of Pediatrics, California

Kathy Rogers, Executive Vice President

American Heart Association

Jose Ramos, National Board Member

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF PROPOSITION 31

PROP. 31 IS PROHIBITION and PROHIBITION NEVER WORKS

We can all agree kids should not use tobacco. That’s why it’s already illegal in California to sell tobacco—including vapes—to anyone younger than 21 years old.

Prop. 31 is adult prohibition, and prohibition has never worked—it didn’t work with alcohol or marijuana, and it won’t work now.

PROP. 31 WILL MAKE THINGS WORSE

The proponents claim Prop. 31 will reduce youth tobacco use, but experience shows it could backfire. When San Francisco passed a similar flavor ban after promising big reductions in youth tobacco use, a Yale University study found there was a significant INCREASE in cigarette smoking among high school students.

PROP. 31 WILL LEAD TO MORE CRIME

Research shows nearly half the cigarettes smoked in California are from illegal sources. Prop. 31 will increase illegal smuggling and counterfeit markets and force even more tobacco sales into underground markets controlled by organized criminal gangs. Prop. 31 will drive up crime—especially in minority communities where menthol is preferred.

PROP. 31 WILL REDUCE TAX REVENUE AND CUT ESSENTIAL SERVICES

Prop. 31 will reduce state tax revenue by $1 billion over the next four years—cutting funds for healthcare, education, seniors, and law enforcement.

PUBLIC EDUCATION IS BETTER THAN PROP. 31

Current laws and public education campaigns are working. Youth vaping is down 59% in the last three years, and youth smoking is at an all-time low of just 1.9%, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the FDA.

Prohibition has never worked. Let’s not make the same mistake again.

NO ON PROP. 31

Yasha Nikitin, California Police Officer

Clint Olivier, Chief Executive Officer

Central Valley Business Federation

Pat Fong Kushida, President

CalAsian Chamber of Commerce

ARGUMENT AGAINST PROPOSITION 31

The politicians who wrote Proposition 31 say it will reduce underage tobacco use—but it’s already illegal to sell any tobacco product to anyone under the age of 21 in California, with big penalties for breaking the law.

PROP. 31 IS ADULT PROHIBITION

Prop. 31 enacts a sweeping new ban on menthol cigarettes, flavored smokeless tobacco, and other flavored non-tobacco nicotine products for adults over the age of 21. Prohibition has never worked—it didn’t work with alcohol or marijuana, and it won’t work now.

And Prop. 31’s prohibition will impact minority neighborhoods more than any other, criminalizing the sale of menthol cigarettes which are primarily the choice of adult tobacco consumers in these communities.

PROP. 31 WILL INCREASE CRIME

Almost half of all cigarettes in California are sold in the underground market, smuggled in from other states or countries like China and Mexico. Prop. 31 will drive even more sales underground from licensed neighborhood retailers to gangs and organized crime. What’s worse, Proposition 31 does not add a single penny to law enforcement to fight the violent crime that will follow.

“Proposition 31 is practically unenforceable. It will put criminals in charge and convert a highly regulated tobacco market into an unregulated criminal market, creating unnecessary and potentially dangerous police interactions.”—Edgar Hampton, Retired California Police Officer

PROP. 31 WILL COST TAXPAYERS

A legislative analysis found that Prop. 31 will lead to “significant revenue losses” that will exceed $1 billion in the next four years. That means less money for healthcare, education, programs for seniors and law enforcement.

PROP. 31 BANS FDA AUTHORIZED REDUCED HARM PRODUCTS AND COULD INCREASE CIGARETTE USE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now has regulatory authority over tobacco and vapor products and already has banned many flavored tobacco products, but Prop. 31 goes too far—banning the sale of flavored reduced-risk, smoke-free products authorized by the FDA “appropriate for the protection of public health” for adults 21 and over.

When adult consumers are denied access to potentially less harmful products authorized by the FDA, they continue with traditional cigarettes that produce second-hand smoke. San Francisco’s flavor ban is a perfect example of the impact on youth as well: a Yale University study found there was a significant INCREASE in cigarette smoking among high school students—the exact opposite result the politicians promised.

PUBLIC EDUCATION IS BETTER THAN PROP. 31

California led the nation in raising the age to purchase tobacco to 21, has among the toughest anti-tobacco laws in the country, and spends over $140 million a year to help people quit tobacco and stop kids from starting.

The results are clear: Youth vaping is down 59% in the last three years, and youth smoking is at an all-time low of just 1.9% according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.

California should not abandon what is clearly working and replace it with a failed policy of the past—prohibition—that will increase crime, cost taxpayers, and backfire on the communities we are trying to protect.

Please join us and vote NO on Prop. 31.

Michael Genest, Former Director

California Department of Finance

Julian Canete, President

California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce

Tom Hudson, President

California Taxpayer Protection Committee

REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENT AGAINST
PROPOSITION 31

VOTE YES ON 31: PROTECT KIDS FROM BIG TOBACCO.

Every word you just read from the “no” campaign was paid for and written by Big Tobacco. Don’t fall for Big Tobacco’s lies.

Tobacco companies used candy flavors to trick millions of kids into trying addictive nicotine, creating the youth e-cigarette epidemic. Now, Big Tobacco wants to trick California voters into voting no.

Yes on 31 is an effective policy that is proven to reduce use by kids by taking candy-flavored tobacco off store shelves.

Big Tobacco doesn’t care about your “freedoms.” Big Tobacco only cares about getting the next generation hooked on nicotine. Using candy flavors to lure kids into becoming lifelong customers is how tobacco companies make big profits while causing addiction, disease, and death.

That’s why the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, teachers, school nurses, and pediatricians are asking you to vote Yes on 31. Big Tobacco is spending millions to fool you into voting no.

YES on 31 protects minority communities from Big Tobacco’s predatory marketing. Big Tobacco preys on Black neighborhoods, spending billions to lobby, advertise and market minty-menthol cigarettes—the original candy flavor—to Black youth. In the 1950’s, fewer than 10% of Black Americans who smoked used menthols. Today, that number has skyrocketed to 85%.

Don’t believe Big Tobacco’s lies. Get the facts at VoteYesOn31.com

VOTE YES ON 31

Rick L. Callender, President

California Hawaii State Conference NAACP

Robert E. Wailes, M.D., President

California Medical Association

Sheri Coburn, Executive Director

California School Nurses Organization