Thousand Oaks, CA Tobacco & Vaping: Flavored Tobacco Bans (2026)
Key Facts
- Authority
- SB 793 / Prop 31 (2022)
- Includes
- Menthol, vape, hookah
- Exemption
- Premium cigars, pipe tobacco
- Enforcement
- Ventura County Public Health
Summary
California AB 793, upheld by 2022 voter referendum Prop 31, bans most flavored tobacco product sales statewide. Thousand Oaks retailers cannot sell flavored cigarettes, vapes, hookah tobacco, or smokeless tobacco.
(b) (1) A tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco 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. (2) There is a rebuttable presumption that a tobacco product is a flavored tobacco product if a manufacturer or any of the manufacturer's agents or employees, in the course of their agency or employment, has made a statement or claim directed to consumers or to the public that the tobacco product has or produces a characterizing flavor, including, but not limited to, text, color, images, or all, on the product's labeling or packaging that are used to explicitly or implicitly communicate that the tobacco product has a characterizing flavor. (c) Subdivision (b) does not apply to the sale of flavored shisha tobacco products by a hookah tobacco retailer if all of the following conditions are met... (d) Subdivision (b) does not apply to sales of premium cigars sold in cigar lounges where products are purchased and consumed only on the premises. (e) Subdivision (b) does not apply to looseleaf tobacco or premium cigars.
Full Breakdown
California Senate Bill 793, signed 2020 and confirmed by voters as Proposition 31 in November 2022, prohibits the retail sale of most flavored tobacco products and tobacco product flavor enhancers. The ban covers menthol cigarettes, flavored e-cigarettes and vape liquids, flavored chewing tobacco, snus, and hookah tobacco except for limited exemptions. Premium cigars over a certain price point and loose-leaf pipe tobacco received narrow carve-outs. Thousand Oaks tobacco retailers must remove all banned flavored products from sale. Ventura County Public Health enforces alongside ABC. The ban survived constitutional challenge and aligns with FDA federal flavored cigarette restrictions.
Violations & Fines
First violation triggers warning, then escalating fines up to two hundred fifty dollars per second offense and five hundred per third under Health and Safety Code 104559.5 with possible license suspension.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still buy menthol cigarettes in Thousand Oaks?
What about flavored vape pens?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Thousand Oaks
California rules heatmap·Compare Thousand Oaks to another location·View the California tobacco & vaping overview
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Flavored Tobacco Bans in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Ventura County handle flavored tobacco bans.