SAVE LIVES CALIFORNIA SPECIAL EXTRAORDINARY SESSION ON HEALTHCARE 2015 BILL PACKAGE
SB X2-5 (Leno)/AB X2-6 (Cooper)
E-CIGARETTES. Senator Mark Leno and Assembly Member Jim Cooper.
PURPOSE
SB X2-5/ AB X2-6 addresses growing public health concerns about the unregulated use of electronic cigarettes
(e-cigarettes) in California by adding e-cigarettes to the state’s youth access and smoke-free workplace laws.
BACKGROUND
E-cigarettes are wholly unregulated in the state of California, beyond a restriction on the sale of the devices to
minors and even that is difficult to enforce because they are not included within the enforcement and oversight
provisions of the Stop Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act. Additionally, e-cigarettes do not fall under the
state’s cigarette and tobacco licensing or smoke-free workplace laws.
Because e-cigarettes have only recently entered the market, they have not been fully studied to the same extent
as other tobacco products. However, recent studies are revealing that e-cigarettes pose potentially serious
health consequences. Two initial studies have found toxic ingredients such as formaldehyde, benzene and
tobacco‐specific carcinogens coming from the secondhand emissions of e‐cigarettes. The use of e-cigarettes in
workplaces, restaurants and bars undermines the public health benefits that have been, and continue to be,
achieved by the state’s smoke-free workplace law.
BILL SUMMARY
SB X2-5/AB X2-6 makes substantive changes to the regulation of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). Specifically,
this bill:
 Establishes more accurate definition of “tobacco product” to include a product made or derived
from tobacco or nicotine that is intended for human consumption, regardless of how it is ingested.
It includes electronic devices and accessories that deliver nicotine or other substances to the
person inhaling from the device.
 Prohibits the use of e-cigarettes in various places where cigarettes are already prohibited, and
makes a violation punishable as an infraction and makes violations subject to the same penalties.
 Requires retailers of e-cigarettes, which are not subject to a tobacco tax, to apply for a license and
pay a license fee, in an amount to be determined by BOE, beginning October 1, 2016. CONTACT
Danielle Lenth, Office of Sen. Mark Leno, 916-651-4011
Tempestt Edward, Office of Asm. Jim Cooper, 916-319-2009
Tim Gibbs, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, 916-504-2484