Tobacco use: California 2026

Cigarette use: California*

Other tobacco product use: California*

In 2024, 6.6% of

Economics of tobacco use and tobacco control

California tobacco laws

Tobacco taxes 

• California is ranked 16th in the U.S. for its cigarette tax of $2.87 per pack (enacted April 2017), compared with the national average of $2.05. (New York has the highest tax at $5.35 and Missouri has the lowest at 17 cents).  
• E-cigarettes have an excise tax of 12.5% (as of July 1, 2022).  
• All other tobacco products are taxed at 61.74% of the wholesale price.  

Clean indoor air ordinances 

• Smoking is prohibited in all government and private workplaces, public schools, restaurants, bars, casinos/gaming establishments (tribal establishments exempt), retail stores, and childcare facilities. 
• Use of e-cigarettes is prohibited wherever smoking is prohibited (with some exceptions), including but not limited to enclosed places or employment, family day care facilities, foster and group homes, within 25 feet of playgrounds or 250 of a youth sports events, in public buildings or within 20 feet of a main exit, entrance, or operable window of a public building, in a state-owned passenger vehicle, in health facilities, cars with minors, on public transportation or passenger carriers, on grounds of facilities under the Department of Youth’s Authority jurisdiction (with the exception of residential staff housing where inmates or wards are not present), in nonprofit charitable temporary food facilities, outpatient health facilities, within 25 feet of the “commerce area” of certified farmers’ markets, and on a state beach or unit of the state park system. 
• Schools may not allow students to use tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, on campus or while attending school-sponsored activities. School districts, charter schools and county offices of education must adopt and enforce policy prohibiting use of electronic cigarettes. The use of nicotine delivery devices is prohibited in county offices of education, charter schools, school/district buildings, school/district property, and school/district vehicles. 
• The landlord of a residential dwelling unit may prohibit smoking of tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, on the property or any portion of the building. 
• E-cigarettes are included in the state’s clean indoor air laws and the state’s definition of smoking and tobacco products.  

Flavor restrictions 

• The sale of flavored tobacco products, except loose leaf tobacco, hookah, and premium cigars, is prohibited.  
• A tobacco retailer, or any of the retailer's agents or employees, shall not sell, offer for sale, or possess with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product or a tobacco product flavor enhancer. 

Licensing laws 

• Retailers, wholesalers, and distributors are required to obtain a license to sell tobacco products. 
• Retailers, wholesalers, and distributors are required to obtain a license to sell e-cigarette products.  

Youth access laws 

• In December 2019, the United States adopted a law raising the federal minimum age of sale of all tobacco products to 21, effective immediately. 
• Establishments are required to post signs stating that sales to people under 21 are prohibited. 

Baseball stadium laws 

• The use of smokeless tobacco is prohibited in California’s five professional baseball stadiums. 

Local tobacco laws 

• Beginning January 1, 2027, Santa Cruz County will prohibit the sale of filterted cigarettes and cigars. 
• Beverly Hills prohibits the sale of all tobacco products in the city; cigar lounges are exempt and guests in the city’s luxury hotels can acquire cigarettes through their concierge or room service. Manhattan Beach prohibits the sale of all tobacco products in the city.  
• 41 localities have banned the sale of all e-cigarettes, with variances for those products that have received FDA premarket approval.  
• 51 cities and counties have banned pharmacies from selling tobacco products, including Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Los Angeles County, Marin County, Pacifica, San Francisco, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and Sonoma County.  
• San Francisco caps the number of tobacco sales permits in each of the city’s 11 districts at 45, and new tobacco retailers are prohibited within 500 feet of any school or another retailer.  

Quitting statistics and benefits

• The CDC estimates 52.8% of daily adult smokers in California quit smoking for one or more days in 2019. 
• In 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that Medicaid programs cover all quit medications.^** 
• California’s state quit line invests $4.08 per smoker, compared with the national median of $2.62
• California has a private insurance mandate provision for quitting tobacco.

Notes and references