Alright, vapers—it’s official. As of January 1, 2025, California has banned flavored vaping products statewide.
If you’re a vaper in the Golden State, you’re in for a rough ride. This law doesn’t just target local vape shops—it completely wipes out access to flavored vape products, both online and in-store.
Let’s break it all down so you know exactly what’s happening and what your options are.
California Vape Ban 2025: What’s Banned?
The new law is one of the strictest vape bans in the country, covering just about everything that made vaping enjoyable for adults.
Effective January 1, 2024, Assembly Bill (AB) 935 (Chapter 135, Statutes of 2023) strengthens the California flavored tobacco products retail law, Senate Bill (SB) 793, by establishing the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) as the primary state enforcement agency, increases penalties for retailers who do not comply with the law, and changes the definition of a retail location.
Say Goodbye To:
- ❌ Flavored vape juice and disposables – If it tastes like fruit, candy, dessert, or menthol, it’s banned.
- ❌ Nicotine pouches – Flavored Zyn or Velo? Not anymore.
- ❌ Flavored cigars and rolling papers – Even blunt wraps got the axe.
- ❌ Online sales of flavored products – No more sneaky orders from out-of-state shops.
What’s Still Legal?
- ✅ Tobacco-flavored and unflavored vape products – Because apparently, that’s the only acceptable way to quit smoking now.
- ✅ Loose-leaf pipe tobacco – You know, in case you suddenly want to take up pipe smoking.
- ✅ Flavored hookah tobacco – But only if it’s sold in an age-restricted store.
What This Means for You
If you’re a vaper in California, this law just nuked all your options for flavored products—no warning, no compromise, just a total wipeout.
Whether you relied on fruity, dessert, candy, or menthol vapes to stay off cigarettes, they’re all gone overnight.
Think about it: that mango, blue razz, or vanilla custard e-liquid you’ve been vaping for years? Illegal to sell.
That disposable vape you grab at the gas station because it actually tastes good? Banned.
Even your nicotine pouches—if they have a hint of flavor? Gone.
And here’s the kicker—you can’t even order them online anymore.
Unlike past vape bans where you could at least find an out-of-state vendor willing to ship, this law shuts down that option too.
Even if you live in a remote area with no vape shops around, tough luck—California just made sure you can’t legally get flavored vape products anywhere, period.
🇺🇸JOE ROGAN: CALIFORNIA IS A GOOFY STATE
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 8, 2024
“It’s {California} such a goofy state, just overburdened with regulations.
You can't even have flavored vapes anymore.”
Source: @JoeRogan @ComicDaveSmith https://t.co/uhdqprmaxi pic.twitter.com/3KS9Rl7MNV
There’s no way around it—unless you like tobacco flavors, you’re out of luck.
And because online sales are banned too, there’s no workaround unless you’re willing to take a road trip out of state.
For Vapers:
- Flavored vapes? Gone. Your choices are now tobacco or nothing.
- Online ordering? Forget it. California has shut down all legal ways to buy flavored vapes online.
- What about DIY e-liquid? Technically, nicotine base and unflavored VG/PG aren’t banned—but good luck finding pre-made flavor shots for your mixes.
- Will this push people back to cigarettes? Some experts think so. Flavors were a huge reason why people switched to vaping in the first place.
For Vape Shops & Retailers:
- Major revenue loss. Flavored vapes made up the bulk of sales for most vape shops—expect closures.
- Fines for selling banned products. Violations range from a few hundred bucks to thousands in penalties.
- Black market growth? Probably. Where legal access disappears, underground markets thrive.
Why Did This Happen?
California says it’s about reducing youth vaping, even though teen vaping has been dropping for years.
And as of when the ban came into effect, youth vaping (and smoking) is the lowest it has ever been in history.
At the peak in 2019, more than 5 million students in middle and high school were using e-cigarettes. Now, about 1.6 million students – about 6% – currently use e-cigarettes, according to newly released survey data from the end of the first half of 2024. About half a million fewer students are now using e-cigarettes compared with last year — a nearly 25% drop in one year — bringing the rate down to the lowest it has been in a decade – CNN
The argument is that flavors make vaping too appealing to minors—but let’s be real, banning flavors for everyone feels more like an attack on adult vapers than a move to help kids.
Public health officials argue that without flavors, fewer people will start vaping.
But critics point out that this might push more people back to cigarettes, which are still perfectly legal and widely available.
What Now?
If you’re a vaper in California, your options are now seriously limited. Here’s what you can do:
- Stock up on tobacco-flavored vapes. If you can stand them, that is.
- Consider nicotine pouches (if you can find them). The ban covers flavored ones, but tobacco-flavored options might still exist.
- DIY might be an option. If you already have nicotine base and VG/PG, you might still be able to mix your own—just be careful about buying flavors.
- Travel out of state. Not convenient, but states like Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon still allow flavored vapes. I’m in LA, this is what I do – I buy six months’ worth of supplies at a time.
- Watch out for underground markets. Where there’s demand, supply finds a way—but be careful about quality and safety.
Wrapping Up…
California’s flavored vape ban just made life a lot harder for adult vapers. If you were using flavored vapes to stay off cigarettes, this is a major setback.
The ban might cut down on youth vaping, but it’s also killing access for adults who just wanted an alternative to smoking.
And it’ll massively effect hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs.
If you’re looking for ways to cope with this nonsense regulation, stay tuned. We’ll be covering workarounds, DIY solutions, and updates as the situation develops.
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