News: April 1, 2017  $2 Tobacco Tax Increase 

The $2 tobacco tax increase begins April 1, 2017.  Let your colleagues know more smokers and vapers may be asking for help.read more here 

The Sacramento Bee also has a great 1 minute video of 3 people talking about the $2 tax increase tomorrow.  Two are smokers saying it's motivating them to quit, and one is a shopkeeper saying his sales will go down, view video here . 

The cigarette tax rate on Saturday spikes from the current 87 cents to $2.87 per pack of 20 cigarettes.

For most smokers, that will put the cost of a standard pack of cigarettes in the $8 to $9 ballpark.

In addition, also effective Saturday, the distribution of “nicotine delivery devices” – a segment that includes electronic cigarettes, e-cigars, e-pipes, vape pens, and e-hookahs – sold in combination with substances containing nicotine will be subject to a tax rate of 27.3 percent of the wholesale cost of the product. Those devices have not been subject to the tobacco products tax.

California’s Board of Equalization noted that nicotine delivery devices sold independently and not in combination with any liquid or substance containing nicotine are not subject to excise tax. That includes batteries, battery chargers, carrying cases or “any other accessory used in the operation of a nicotine delivery device.”

U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved products designed to help consumers reduce or quit smoking, such as nicotine patches, are not subject to the tax. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

News: January 2017 California Pharmacist Association presents On-Demand Training Program:

 Furnishing Nicotine Replacement Therapy: Smoking Cessation Training for Pharmacists.  

 Click here to learn more about this new two-hour online study course. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________

News: CEASE- Clinical Effort against Second Hand Smoke Exposure- has new website- January 2017

CEASE, or the Clinical Effort against Secondhand Smoke Exposure, trains pediatric providers to help parents quit smoking to reduce the burden of second and third hand smoke on children. The website includes a link to the FREE CEASE training- with free CME/CEUs-which prepares providers to implement CEASE in their own clinical settings.

For more information, please email jyothi.marbin@ucsf.edu

Please visit www.ceasecalifornia.org for more information

__________________________________________________________________________________

News: Sacramento Bee Article October 10, 2016

More than 3 million Californians still smoke, and a staggering 40,000 Californians will die this year from tobacco-related diseases. The skyrocketing popularity of e-cigarettes among youths is creating a new generation of addicts. This year, nearly 17,000 California kids will start smoking and one-third of them will eventually die from tobacco-related illnesses.

The leading cause of preventable death  nationwide and in California, tobacco exacts a grave toll on communities, families, health care systems and businesses. Tobacco kills more Californians than car accidents, guns, alcohol, illegal drugs and AIDS combined, and harms the health of nonsmokers through secondhand smoke.This is a public health crisis. 

read more here : http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article107338447.html