A Quick Guide to California’s New Smoking Restrictions

Recent changes to California’s smoking laws have fundamentally shifted the role which smoking can play in and around public spaces and workplaces. Ignoring or misunderstanding these laws can result in a criminal conviction. To help avoid this issue we’ll go over the need to know facts of these recent changes to smoking restrictions, and what this could mean for any business or smoker.

The Technical

The new laws which we will be looking at are labeled the following: ABX2-7, ABX2-9, ABX2-11, SBX2-5and SBX2-7. Those readers who are fluent in legal language can follow those links to the official California Legal Information website.

What These Changes Mean

Technical language can be difficult, so to avoid confusion we’ve simplified it down to just what you need to know:

• The minimum smoking age has been raised from 18 to 21.

This means that any current smokers between those two ages are no longer going to legally be able to purchase tobacco and tobacco products until they again reach the legal age. Buying these products is also not possible until the user is at least 21 years of age.

• These laws apply to traditional tobacco products such as cigarettes, chew and cigars, in addition to vaporizers and e-cigarettes.

These modern devices had slightly outpaced the laws regarding tobacco use, so changes had to be made for these laws to catch up. This means that if you were wanting or intending to use the devices to circumvent the law, this is not possible.

• These smoking restrictions apply to all employers. This includes businesses which are owner-operated and without other employees, provided said businesses allow any clients or non-employees into the workplace.

The idea here is that if a workplace can be accessed by a client, an employee, or any other individual, then smoking is not allowed. This does not apply if a business owner operates out of an area which no other individual can access. There are also other exceptions when it comes to a few specific situations, such as private smoking lounges in tobacco stores, or the cabins of large trucks when no non-smoking employees are present.

• Businesses which have allowed smoking up until this point are legally required to change.

There are a few common places in which smoking has long been long accepted. The most popular of these include bars, taverns, warehouses and hotel lobbies. With these new laws in play, any of these businesses which have previously allowed smoking are still required to change.

• Smokers are also party to these rules.

Any tobacco users out there are also required to follow these new smoking restrictions. Any business in which smoking is not allowed by the staff also has these rules extend to the customer.