SAN DIEGO — California will soon start forbidding the sale of flavored tobacco products, after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban on Monday.
Big Tobacco companies had earlier turned to the courts after Californians backed the ban, which will include everything from cotton candy-flavored vape cartridges to menthol cigarettes.
Sixty-three percent of California voters approved this ban on flavored tobacco products last month: a ban that will now move forward, after the nation's highest court weighed in.
"The people of California have spoken," said Dana Stevens, executive director of CASA (Community Action Service Advocacy), a local non-profit dedicated to healthy communities.
She said this ban on the sale of flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes, has been years in coming.
After California passed similar legislation in 2020, Big Tobacco turned to the courts to try to halt it, leading to last month's statewide referendum, which the Supreme Court has now upheld.
"People are tired of these tactics, and tired of the exploitation of young people by this industry," Stevens told CBS 8. "It has gone on long enough."
In San Diego County, the Neighborhood Market Association, which represents hundreds of local family-owned businesses, was part of the litigation to try to overturn the ban.
In a statement, its president Marlon Mansour said,
"We are extremely disappointed in the Supreme Court's decision. As a result, many California small businesses will soon be greatly and negatively impacted. We will continue to combat this ban on the merits in Federal Court."
"We're going to be out of business maybe soon," said the manager of Cali Blaze Smoke Shop in City Heights, who estimated that 80% of their business comes from flavored products.
While he is disappointed as a businessman, as a father he said that he sees the benefits of a ban.
"Because I am a dad, I have two kids... I don't want my kids to get into this," he told CBS 8. "They taste like candy."
Longtime smoker Andy Pabon is preparing for the ban, buying hundreds of dollars worth of flavored products now, before they're no longer available.
"I was like, oh man, I need to stock up!," he said.
While Pabon would like to quit eventually, he said other smokers may try to seek flavored products out even after sales are banned.
"They're going to try to find it somewhere else," he added. "Maybe someone selling it under the table?"
Stevens, though, said that this ban will help save lives.
"If we can stop the addiction now and prevent more young people from becoming addicted, then we certainly can prevent negative health impacts later in life, for the next generation," she added.
The City of San Diego passed a similar ban on flavored tobacco earlier this year. While that is set to take effect Jan. 1, this statewide ban will precede it, going into action throughout California on Dec. 22.
WATCH RELATED: CA Prop 31 explained | Ban on flavored tobacco in California.