California Laws on Electronic Cigarettes

In September of 2009, the California State Senate passed SB400, a bill that started out as promoting green cars and ended up being all about tobacco advertising and marketing. In early Sept, Senator Corbett, the drafter of the bill, added a ban on the sale of Electronic Cigarettes to that bill.

Ultimately, this move proved fatal for the entire bill as Governor Swarzenegger was forced to veto SB 400 based on it's inclusion of electronic cigarettes.

To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 400 without my signature.

While I support restricting access of electronic cigarettes to children under the age of 18, I cannot sign a measure that also declares them a federally regulated drug when the matter is currently being decided through pending litigation.

 Items defined as “tobacco products” are legal for anyone over the age of 18. If adults want to purchase and consume these products with an understanding of the associated health risks, they should be able to do so unless and until federal law changes the legal status of these tobacco products.

 For this reason, I am unable to sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

As the governor pointed out, tobacco products are legal for those over 18 and the decision of whether electronic cigarettes are a drug delivery system and should be regulated by the FDA is not for states to decide, but rather the FDA and the courts.

Since the matter of FDA jurisdiction is pending Federal litigation brought by two electronic cigarette manufacturers, the governor had no choice but to veto this bill.

For full text versions and other SB 400 related info see below: