Nearly a year into a state and local ban on most flavored tobacco products, menthols are still around. If you can afford to pay upwards of $24 per pack.
Meanwhile, flavored blunts and vape cartridges continue to openly line the shelves of many smoke shops.
Shops found in violation of California’s flavored tobacco ban can face $250 fines. And in the city of Los Angeles—where officials passed an even stricter ban on flavored tobacco—the unlawful retail sale of flavored tobacco products could land you in county jail for up to six months and cost you a fine of up to a grand.
Enforcing the state and local bans largely falls on local law enforcement agencies. But here in the city of Los Angeles, tobacco retailers openly ignoring the bans have faced few consequences.
As of early October, no retailers or individuals in the city of Los Angeles have been prosecuted for violating the state or local ban.