California Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL)
California’s Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL) is now live on the California Department of Justice website — a tool that identifies which tobacco and nicotine products (including e-cigs and vapes) are certified as unflavored and therefore lawfully sellable under the state’s flavored tobacco restrictions.
Any covered product not on this list is considered a prohibited flavored tobacco product and may be subject to enforcement action under state law.
- Not all products listed on the UTL are automatically authorized for sale, all local laws still apply.
🚨 Want to stay updated? Click here to subscribe for email notifications about any additions or removals to the UTL.
Learn more: Unflavored Tobacco List | Unflavored Tobacco List
New TEEN+ Data on Tobacco Use by Demographics
CDC Foundation’s Tobacco Monitoring Project has released a new data brief from the Tobacco Epidemic Evaluation Network (TEEN+) Study. The brief examines tobacco use among youth and young adults by demographic characteristics.
Learn more: Microsoft PowerPoint – TEEN+DataBrief_Issue5_Demographics_final
September is National Recovery Month: FDA-Approved Medications
The pharmacologic Product Guide: FDA‑Approved Medications for Smoking Cessation is a concise reference summarizing FDA-approved pharmacotherapies—such as nicotine replacement therapies, bupropion, and varenicline—their formulations, dosing regimens, contraindications, and usage guidance for clinicians and patients.
Learn more: Pharmacologic Product Guide
Study Links Grandfathers’ Smoking to Autism Risk
Children whose grandfathers used any tobacco (pipes, cigars, cigarettes) during their grandmother’s pregnancy had a 76% higher risk of ASD than the grandchildren of non-users, with roughly double the risk among grandchildren of those who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day.
Learn more: Grandparent Prenatal Tobacco, Alcohol, Coffee, and Tea Consumption and Autism in the Third Generation – Pearl – Autism Research – Wiley Online Library
Research Study: Tobacco Disparities Among Racial and Ethnic Groups
A new study coauthored by Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS, Director of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, examines how intersecting identities of sexual orientation, gender, race, and ethnicity are associated with cigarette smoking, e-cigarette use, cannabis use, tobacco quit attempts, and perceptions of health care among adults in California.
Rural Realities: Tobacco Health & Community
This powerful conversation highlights how identity, community, and health intersect across rural America. Panelists explore tobacco’s ongoing influence, dispel myths about rural health, and share community‑driven strategies to reduce tobacco‑related harm and advance health equity. Watch the full discussion and learn more about Campaign for the Culture’s work to educate, engage, and mobilize communities most impacted by tobacco.
Learn more: Rural Realities: Tobacco, Health and… | Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Tobacco Promotion on Content Platforms Can Increase Odds of Intending to Vape
Young people with high exposure to promotional tobacco content also had more than twice the odds of intending to smoke cigarettes. While alarming, this trend is unsurprising given that previous research has established that tobacco imagery in movies and TV shows, as well as content on social media, can drive young people to use tobacco and nicotine products.
Learn more: Exposure to tobacco promotion on TikTok, Twitch, and YouTube nearly triples odds of intending to vape
Old Tactics, New Products: How Big Tobacco Targets Women in E-cigarette Marketing
Since the 1920s, the tobacco industry has used women’s suffrage and equality movements to market cigarettes to women. Today, as the industry shifts its focus to e-cigarettes, tobacco companies are using similar tactics to market these products to women, with themes of independence, glamour, fun, and health-consciousness.
Learn more: Old tactics, new products: how Big Tobacco targets women in e-cigarette marketing
Smoking in Pop Culture
Last month, the Truth Initiative published an article with Teen Vogue about the rise of nicotine in pop culture. If you’ve been on social media in the past few months, you may have noticed that more celebs are snapping pics of themselves smoking cigarettes, and it’s not just your feed. From Kylie Jenner to Charlie XCX, it appears that cigarettes are reappearing as a stylish accessory, signaling glamour and pushing back on the “clean girl” aesthetic of recent years.
Not only does this quietly reinforce the idea that smoking is cool, but it can also make quitting more difficult: studies show that seeing fictional characters smoking on a screen can trigger the urge to smoke in real life.
Learn more: With Nicotine Seemingly Showing Up Everywhere Right Now, How Do We Even Begin to Quit? | Teen Vogue
New CYAN Educational Material
NEW Myths and Realities Campaign
NEW Commercial Tobacco Use Fact Sheets
Visit Material: CYANOnline
Addiction, anxiety, and the attention economy
Conversations about youth mental health and addiction are often treated as separate issues, however, these challenges are deeply intertwined. The same forces driving stress are also shaping substance use behaviors, and research from Truth Initiative shows that youth nicotine use is strongly intertwined with stress, anxiety, and broader mental health challenges.
New Podcast: Integrity Alone Will Get You Outplayed
Designing Tomorrow: Creative Strategies for Social Impact
Listen to the Designing Tomorrow podcast featuring Public Health Law Center Executive Director Joelle Lester as she discusses how modern industries mirror Big Tobacco’s tactics of manufacturing doubt and the strategic challenges of advancing commercial tobacco today.
Tobacco Prevention Lotería
Looking for a culturally relevant, interactive way to engage your community in health conversations?
The Latino Coordinating Center for a Tobacco-Free California has developed a special, health-focused edition of the classic game Lotería.
This free resource puts a tobacco prevention twist on the traditional game, designed to spark meaningful dialogue about commercial tobacco risks, community health, and wellness.
Capacity: Perfect for groups up to 30 players
Protecting LGBTQ+ Communities from the Tobacco Industry in San Diego
The Collective Coalition developed this fact sheet to raise awareness about how the tobacco industry disproportionately targets LGBTQ+ communities through retailer density, advertising, and product marketing.
The resource highlights health disparities, explains the importance of strengthening Tobacco Retail Licensing (TRL) policies in the City of San Diego, and outlines community-driven solutions such as retailer density restrictions, compliance checks, and smoke shop regulations.
The fact sheet also encourages community advocacy and engagement to help create healthier, more equitable neighborhoods.
New Study Finds That Cleanups Do Not Stop Cigarette Butt Pollution
A new study from San Diego State University’s Center for Tobacco and the Environment found that cigarette butt pollution comes back quickly, even after thorough cleanups.
Researchers looked at areas near storm drains in Pacific Beach and found about 80 cigarette butts were left behind each day—adding up to nearly 29,000 per year. Even after all the litter was removed, the trash returned within weeks. This shows that cleanups alone aren’t enough to control tobacco waste.
The study suggests focusing more on prevention, like creating more smoke-free outdoor spaces, educating the public, and reducing cigarette filter waste at the source.
Read full study – ACS Publications
“Nicotine Pouches: Addictive, Widely Available, and Cheap” Fact Sheet Now Available
The California Tobacco Prevention Program is sharing a new one-page fact sheet created by the Stanford Prevention Research Center. It highlights key findings about nicotine pouches from the 2024 California Tobacco Retail Surveillance Study, including how they are sold, priced, and marketed in communities.
Key findings:
- Nicotine pouches were found in more stores than vapes, showing up in 67% of tobacco retailers compared to 51% for vapes
- The average price of Zyn Chill 6mg ($7.70) was lower than the cheapest pack of cigarettes ($8.37)
- Ads for nicotine pouches were almost as common as cigarette ads, appearing in about 63% of stores compared to nearly 69% for cigarettes
The fact sheet helps explain how nicotine pouches are being promoted and made available across California.
Nicotine Pouches factsheet – CDPH
The Results of the California Teens Nicotine and Tobacco Project Online Survey, 2024
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has released results from the fourth annual Teens Nicotine and Tobacco Online Survey.
This project tracks how Californians ages 12–20 use and think about tobacco, nicotine, and cannabis. The information helps CDPH monitor trends and support prevention efforts.
The survey was done twice in 2024—once in the spring (May–June) and again in the fall (November–December). The new report combines key findings from both survey periods.
The Environmental Impact of E-Cigarettes
A new report from Truth Initiative shows that disposable e-cigarettes are creating a growing environmental problem.
Most of these products end up in landfills or as litter, adding to toxic electronic waste. They can also be a fire risk because they contain lithium batteries that can’t be removed. Research shows that many young people don’t have safe ways to throw them away, and most disposable vapes are being sold illegally.
The report makes it clear that quitting vaping helps both your health and the environment—and that stronger enforcement of the law and better retailer accountability are needed.