The white ash conversation has been positively insufferable. Heady bois and cannabis connoisseurs from coast to coast have been posting videos of their ash on Instagram for what feels like years now, indicating that they’re smoking top-shelf product solely based on the color of the ash.

As much as I hate to disappoint, not only is white ash not an accurate metric of quality, it can be easily faked, gamed, cheated, duped and bamboozled using particular cultivation techniques, smoking methods, and, as shown by recent court documents, adding small amounts of chalk to the rolling paper.

Recently unsealed documents from a years-long court battle between Republic Technologies LLC and BBK Tobacco & Foods, LLP revealed the ingredient lists used to make OCB Rolling Papers, including one particular additive that Big Tobacco has been familiar with for years, which weed smokers might not be aware of: calcium carbonate.

Chalk-Infused Papers

Court documents from 2014 with regard to OCB rolling papers showed that varying amounts of calcium carbonate were used in some of their rolling papers, specifically the following:  OCB No. 1 Single Wide, JOB Tribal King Size, OCB Slim, OCB Red 1 ¼, JOB Gold 1.25, OCB Organic Hemp 1-¼ and OCB Organic Hemp King Size Slim.

According to the National Institute of Health, calcium carbonate is an inorganic salt found all over the world in rocks like limestone as well as in the shells of many marine organisms and crustaceans. It’s the main ingredient in chalk, antacid medications like Tums, and as it turns out, it has also been used as a whitening pigment in cigarette rolling papers for decades. I was able to find three different patents, two of which date back to the 90s, from tobacco companies, including Phillip Morris, all listing calcium carbonate as a way to make cigarette ash more “attractive.” A study by the Cooperation Centre for Scientific Research Relative to Tobacco describes how calcium carbonate can affect the color of ash:

“Generally, as the size of the precipitated calcium carbonate particle decreased, the ash became more cohesive. As the particle size decreased, the ash became slightly whiter until an optimal particle size was reached at about 0.3 microns,” the study said. “Further reductions in precipitated calcium carbonate size caused the ash to become grayer.”

Calcium carbonate is not necessarily a harmful substance to include in rolling papers, but the material safety data sheet of calcium carbonate does classify it as a potential respiratory tract irritant. A National Institute of Health study of autopsies in smokers versus non-smokers also found that the elemental components of calcium carbonate are found in the lungs of smokers but not in non-smokers, meaning it potentially leaves residual particles in the lungs.

“Potassium carbonate, sulfate, and chloride were not identified in any lung. The percentage of quartz was the same in both smoker and nonsmoker lungs,” the study said. “However, lungs from smokers contained a large percentage (average 23% of all particles) of particles composed of calcium, carbon, and oxygen (probably calcium carbonate) in all sample sites, whereas lungs from nonsmokers usually contained no such particles or only minute numbers (average 0.1%).”

Moving away from the ultra-sciency talk, cigarette companies have added calcium carbonate to their papers for years to make the ash whiter (please Google Marlboro white ash ads, and you’ll see this conversation goes all the way back to the 1950s). Whether or not OCB papers are trying to gain the favor of weed smokers looking for white cannabis ash, I haven’t the foggiest idea, nor would I want to insinuate such a thing for fear of incurring a lawsuit I absolutely cannot afford. The point is that if a substance this common can be added to rolling papers, it would be very easy for an unscrupulous marketing team to use this knowledge to their advantage to sell more cannabis via using these particular papers in pre-rolls or to roll with when making smoking videos for the company’s Instagram, etc. 

I Got a Fever, and the Only Prescription is More CalMag

It doesn’t stop there. I’ve been told by growers that you can also add greater concentrations of CalMag to flowering cannabis plants to achieve the white ash effect, which would make sense because CalMag is, somewhat redundantly, a mixture of calcium and magnesium. Calcium carbonate concentration is also, as far as I know, not included on any cannabis lab test COA, so there’s no concrete way for the consumer to tell if this method was utilized in the grow room. Again, not necessarily a harmful practice as far as I know, but also not an accurate measure of quality.

You can also achieve the white ash effect by rolling and smoking the joint in a particular way, which I’ll describe for you now in an effort to illustrate that you can absolutely, positively fake this shit for Instagram: Roll a full eighth into a joint as tightly as possible without suffocating it (see Doja Pak rolling tutorial from First Smoke of the Day for further reference). Now go buy yourself one of those mini torches that crack smokers use to heat up their pipes, the sketchier looking the better. Torch the end of your joint evenly and slowly. If it catches fire, gently blow it out and continue torching for a minute or two until you have a nice even cherry. Now you’re gonna want to hold the joint upside down, very gently, so that the smoke drifts upwards through your hands. Take a long, slow hit and return the joint to the upside-down position. Rinse and repeat, torching more if necessary until you have a nice white ash pile. Take your picture, post it to Instagram and receive a well-deserved pat on the back from your CEO.

Granted, you need at least somewhat decent weed to achieve this effect, even with the described method above. I will also fully admit I have never smoked a joint that burned completely black, which I would describe as quality weed. The point I’m trying to make here is that there are well-known schemes afoot to fool you into thinking you’re smoking good weed when that is not necessarily the case. Some people have purported that white ash is an indicator the cannabis was dried and cured properly, which has some truth to it because the moisture content of the flower needs to be within an ideal range to achieve a proper burn, but all the white ash really means is that the weed has burned completely, a process known as “carbonization.” An excerpt from “Whiteness of Cigarette Ash,” written by Isao Kanai in 1959 (again, please note the date), explains further:

“The whiteness of cigarette ash plays an important role in the burning quality of cigarettes, and it is considered to be related to the degree of carbonization of organic materials, the combustion-zone temperature of cigarettes, and other complicated ‘combustion phenomena’ of Cigarettes,” the report said. 

A cursory Google search will also populate about 50 different explanations from various tobacco clubs and tobacco companies explaining that white ash is related to combustibility and levels of calcium and magnesium in the soil the tobacco was grown. The same can be said for cannabis.

Fire is in the Eye of the Beholder

So where does that leave us? Well, here’s where it’s gonna get a little subjective on my part. Quality cannabis ultimately comes down to user experience and user preference. There are certain markers that may suggest a particular batch of cannabis can be considered a quality product, but it’s a multi-faceted conversation. There is no single metric that can tell you if flower is good. It comes down to several key factors including, but not limited to: appearance, ash color, density, taste, smokability, cultivation methods (this is a lesser point but while I’m on the subject, the living soil versus salt-nutrients conversation is equally as pointless as the ash conversation), plant genetics, a proper dry and cure cycle and in my opinion the most important factor: effects. Individual microbiome, how one person’s body reacts to cannabis versus another’s, also plays a huge role.

What I will say, and I’m shamelessly stealing this point from our fearless leader Jon Cappetta, is that a better ash-related metric for quality weed is how the ash stacks up on itself (a metric also stolen from age-old tobacco-funded studies, I might add). If you can smoke most of the joint without the ash falling off (infused products don’t count), it means there’s a lot of resin in the flower, causing it to stick together. If the ash is speckled or white on top of that, all the better. Oil ring to boot? Fugedaboutit.

There’s a certain threshold I think we can all agree on that flower has to reach to cross over from bad to mids but past that threshold, as we’ve all witnessed, we all start to argue as a community about mids versus fire and the conversation ultimately devolves into silly, unimportant metrics like “whose ash is whiter.” I think in general the key here is just awareness of what we’re consuming, and the knowledge that our own personal experience with the plant is all that really matters at the end of the day. Don’t let flashy Instagram videos or age-old Big Tobacco schemes fool you into consuming a particular brand or strain. Smoke what feels good to YOU and spread awareness wherever you can so we as a community can properly identify true fire. Past that, I only ask that we all stop arguing online about white ash because it makes the cannabis community look like a babbling gang of rabid hyenas.

Original publication date: February 29, 2024

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The election and holiday season is upon us. So it’s time to settle the toughest questions. Which is better? Smoking weed before a meal, or after? Let’s put this to rest once and for all. The eternal question When it comes to pairing weed with food, timing can be everything. So, what’s your move? Are […]

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In Freetown, Sierra Leone, a cheap smoking mix that causes a powerful high—made up of cannabis, fentanyl, tramadol, formaldehyde, and reportedly in some cases, ground-up human bones—is sweeping the city and nation as a whole. It’s less a “new drug” and it’s rather more like a new drug mix made by drug manufacturers cutting drugs with cheaper substances that cause an effect. Locals roll the ground-up blend of drugs into joints and share them with friends for a long-lasting high.

Like the “zombie drugs” you see in the U.S. that cause addicts to be frozen in pose on the street (fentanyl or tranq), West African nations report their own version of a “zombie drug” that causes locals to be in a coma-like state. Sierra Leone leaders declared an emergency due to the prevalence of people, mostly young men ages 18-25 who are smoking “kush.” 

Unlike the landrace strain from Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush mountain range, “kush” in Sierra Leone means a constantly changing mix of drugs in a smoking mixture that probably contains potentially physically harmful ingredients—namely various opioids or human bones.

“One of the drug’s many ingredients is human bones—security has been tightened in cemeteries to stop addicts digging up skeletons from graves,” BBC reports. Smoking crushed human bones contributes to the drug’s hypnotic high that lasts about six hours. (Smoking human bones in a separate drug mixture also gained popularity in South America.) A disturbing now-deleted Reddit thread provided information on smoking human bones. 

The reports of grave-robbing added to the nation’s frenzy over this drug, which reportedly took popularity about six years ago. It drew the attention of Sierra Leone’s president. “Our country is currently faced with an existential threat due to the ravaging impact of drugs and substance abuse, particularly the devastating synthetic drug kush,” said Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio.

The country is also concerned about potential long-term effects, mostly due to the addictive properties of the “kush” mixture.

Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital, the only hospital of its kind in the country, says that between 2020 and 2023, admissions specifically for “kush” addicts surged by almost 4,000% to reach 1,865. Dr Abdul Jalloh, head of the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital, said that the President’s emergency declaration is “the right step” and will be “crucial in addressing drug use.”

Options for locals are limited. There is reportedly only one drug rehabilitation center in Freetown. The 100-bed facility was “hurriedly set up in an army training center” earlier this year. Locals, however, say it’s more of a holding center than a rehab center because of its lack of basic facilities.

Locals hope the “kush” craze dies out and other, less harmful, drugs replace it.

Is There Truth Behind Smoked Bones?

The demonization of drugs may also play a role in the reality of how much “kush” actually contains human bones. However, seven cemeteries in Freetown reported grave-robbing for valuables in 2016.

Experiments with various substances that either produce a high or prolong a high have been introduced. Ground-up human bones also have been added to mixtures containing cocaine in other parts of the world.

Vice reported that people in South America are also smoking human bones to get high. The drug mixture in this region also contains extremely harmful ingredients in some cases. Vice reported in 2022 that “Basuco” is now considered the cheapest drug in the world—about 20 cents a hit. It’s made from low-quality cocaine, brick dust, volcanic ash, sulphuric acid, kerosene, and sometimes ground-up human bones. Basuco is described as an epidemic in Colombia. As it contains cocaine, smoking it causes the smoker to compulsively crave another hit. The high for this drug is also shockingly addictive, reported as an epidemic of basuco dependency in South America. 

So where exactly is “kush” being smoked? Mostly in countries in West Africa, where other types of drugs are scarce. The Conversation reports that the drug is reported in both Guinea and Liberia, which border Sierra Leone, making trafficking the drug easy.

Kush costs around five leones per joint, and they’re typically shared between people, with up to 40 joints being consumed in a day. About twenty Sierra Leonean leones (SLL) equals a U.S. dollar. The annual income per capita is around $630.

Drug mixes are common in some African countries, as drugs are cut with cheaper drugs.

Another drug mix, “white pipe”, is a mixture of the hypnotic sedative methaqualone (Mandrax), cannabis, and tobacco, and the drug is smoked in South Africa. South Africa is the leading consumer of Mandrax worldwide, with between 70% and 80% of the drug ending up in this country.

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More Americans are overdosing and dying by smoking illegal drugs as opposed to injecting them.

Of the 109,000 recorded overdose deaths which occurred in 2022, almost 70 percent involved fentanyl and a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that fentanyl users are beginning to favor smoking as their preferred method of ingestion, surpassing those who favor injection. 

“From January–June 2020 to July–December 2022, the percentage of overdose deaths with evidence of smoking increased 73.7%, and the percentage with evidence of injection decreased 29.1%; similar changes were observed in all U.S. regions. Changes were most pronounced in deaths with [illegally manufactured fentanyls] detected, with or without stimulant detection,” the CDC study said.

The study was performed using CDC data taken from death certificates, postmortem toxicology testing, and medical examiner or coroner reports over 28 different police jurisdictions. This collection of data showed that as fentanyl has infiltrated the American drug supply, opiate users have made a distinct and notable transition from primarily injecting heroin to primarily smoking fentanyl. The method of ingestion was determined using information from police investigations, witness reports, and autopsy data.

This data collected from the CDC revealed notable trends. From January 2020 to December 2022, the 28 jurisdictions surveyed recorded 139,740 overdose deaths. Deaths increased 20.2%, from January–June 2020 to July–December 2022 with 21,046 deaths and 25,301 deaths respectively recorded. Deaths involving fentanyl increased by 8.4% over the same time periods from 71.4% to 77.4%. 

The kicker here is overdose deaths with evidence that the user smoked fentanyl increased 109.1% when comparing the two time periods with 2,794 deaths recorded in the first half of 2020 and 5,843 in the second half of 2022. Overdose deaths with evidence of fentanyl injection decreased by 14.6% with 4,780 recorded in the first half of 2020 and 4,080 in the second half of 2022.

“The leading route of use in drug overdose deaths changed from injection during January–June 2020 (22.7% of deaths) compared with ingestion (15.2%), snorting (13.6%), and smoking (13.3%) to smoking during July–December 2022 (23.1% of deaths) compared with snorting (16.2%), injection (16.1%), and ingestion (14.5%),” the CDC study said. “During July–December 2022, most deaths with evidence of smoking (79.7%), snorting (84.5%), or ingestion (86.5%) had no evidence of injection; among deaths with information on route of use, 81.9% had evidence of a noninjection route.”

Contrary to what most current or former drug users may believe from anecdotal data, smoking actually presents a greater addiction potential than injection for most drugs because of the way smoking delivers psychoactive compounds to the bloodstream and subsequently the brain. As such, it can also make it easier to overdose when smoking. As the following language from the University of Utah illustrates, the faster psychoactive compounds make it to the brain the more addictive they are and smoking is the fastest known method of ingestion.

“The fastest way to get a drug to the brain is by smoking it. When a drug like tobacco smoke is taken into the lungs, nicotine (the addictive chemical in tobacco) seeps into lung blood where it can quickly travel to the brain. This fast delivery is one reason smoking cigarettes is so addicting,” the University of Utah said.

The same information from the University of Utah went on to explain that injection is the second fastest way of delivering drugs to the brain, which could at least partially explain why fentanyl users have largely transitioned to smoking in lieu of injecting.

“Injecting a drug directly into a blood vessel is the second fastest way to get a drug to the brain, followed by snorting or sniffing it through the nose. A slow mode of delivery is ingestion, such as drinking alcohol. The effects of alcohol take many minutes rather than a few seconds to cause behavioral and biological changes in the brain,” the University of Utah said.

The CDC said that while injection poses many potential risks in terms of complications from improper injection techniques, infectious disease transmission from dirty needles etc, smoking fentanyl may present an increased risk for overdose. They stressed the nationwide need for education and harm reduction programs to help curb the dramatic increase in overdose deaths America has seen since fentanyl reared its ugly head. 

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Keep the temps low and the materials pure.

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Beyond the issue of accidentally getting high, what are the respiratory risks associated with secondhand weed smoke or vapor?

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Many runners may wonder if weed is negatively impacting their workout. Leafly spoke with a doctor to learn more.

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A new study, entitled “Everything old is new again: Creating and maintaining a population-level ‘shared reality’ of health risks associated with cigarette use toward both reducing the prevalence and eliminating disparities in cigarette use among all Americans,” was released in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Research was led by Dr. Renee Goodwin, a CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy professor, and also adjunct professor at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in New York.

Goodwin explained in a press release that more questions are always being developed as cannabis legalization expands across the United States. “Tobacco control has done a tremendous job in public education on the physical health risks associated with tobacco use, and cigarette smoking in particular, over the past several decades,” Goodwin said.

In this most recent study, researchers analyzed data pulled from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. “Participants’ responses to a question asking how much people risk harming themselves physically and in other ways by smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day were compared between those who use cannabis daily and those who did not use cannabis in the past year,” a press release explained. “Sixty-two percent of adults who use cannabis daily perceived pack a day cigarette use to be of ‘great’ risk to health, compared with 73% of those who did not use cannabis in the past year.”

Previous studies Goodwin has conducted show evidence that cigarette use is more common in consumers who also use cannabis. “We wondered why that might be,” Goodwin said. “Our findings suggest that diminished risk perception of pack a day cigarette use might be one contributing factor.”

“Most Americans who use cigarettes have at least one mental health or substance use issue considered a barrier to smoking cessation and sustained abstinence from cigarette use. Based on our analysis of 2020 nationally representative data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)…” the study manuscript states. “…51.7% of Americans ages 12 and older who reported past 30-day cigarette use met criteria for at least one of the following: serious psychological distress, major depressive episode, heavy alcohol use or daily cannabis use…”

Goodwin recently spoke at a public hearing in New York on the topic of Introductory Resolution 1417, which was proposed by Legislator Kara Hahn of Suffolk County and would ban cannabis packaging that appeals to children. Goodwin explained that studies in Canada, through some of her peers, suggest that cannabis legalization hasn’t led to increase in consumption by minors. “Data from Canada suggests that plain packaging is one measure that can maximize the safe and effective rollout of cannabis legalization and protect the health, safety and wellbeing of all members of our community, including those most vulnerable: children,” Goodwin said at the hearing.

“Enacting legislation on the local and state level that reduces the appeal of cannabis products to youth vis-à-vis prohibiting product packaging that mimics foods and candies that are traditionally marketed to children (e.g., pop-tarts, Oreos) may reduce potential unintended harms to the most vulnerable members of our community via accidental ingestion/poisonings, which have exploded in number in recent years in the U.S., with child and adolescent intentional use of these products,” Goodwin said, according to an interview with Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Cigarette consumption has been known to cause many harmful side effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that more than 480,000 people die from tobacco-related deaths every year, which includes those exposed to second-hand smoking. But cannabis legalization has definitely played a part in reducing cigarette and e-cigarette consumption. A poll in 2019 found that many Americans believe e-cigarettes are more dangerous than cannabis. The EVALI vape crisis of late 2019 and early 2020, which led to 2,807 hospitalizations or deaths, also led to increased restrictions and testing requirements for e-cigarettes.

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New Yorkers hoping to enjoy a smoke or a toke in one of the state’s beaches or parks might want to think twice.

Kathy Hochul, the state’s Democratic governor, signed a bill into law last month that will prohibit “smoking in all state-owned beaches, boardwalks, marinas, playgrounds, recreation centers, and group camps.” 

Those caught smoking in such areas could face a fine of $50.

“Smoking is a dangerous habit that affects not only the smoker but everyone around them, including families and children enjoying our state’s great public places,” Hochul said in a statement following the bill signing last month. “I’m proud to sign this legislation that will protect New Yorkers’ health and help reduce litter in public parks and beaches across the state.”

The new law applies to both tobacco and cannabis.

Recreational pot use has been legal in the Empire State since last year, when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation.

The law permitted cannabis use wherever tobacco use is also permitted.

The bill signed into law last month “exempts the Adirondacks and Catskills from the [smoking] ban as well as parking lots, sidewalks adjoining parks, and areas not used for park purposes,” according to the governor’s office.

“Many municipalities and local governments already have restrictions or bans on smoking in public spaces. This additional penalty will enforce a statewide prohibition and includes a fine that will be collected by localities,” Hochul’s office explained in the press release issued last month. “In addition to the health risks posed by secondhand smoke, cigarette butts are a major environmental hazard due to the non-biodegradable filters that are discarded. They are the leading item found during cleanup projects. Through this prohibition, parks and beaches will be kept cleaner and safer as will our local ecosystems.”

The law was celebrated by several New York lawmakers.

“New York’s public parks are family friendly venues. No one, especially children, should be subjected to secondhand smoke while playing on a playground or enjoying the day at a public beach or camp site,” said Democratic state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky. “Our parks also shouldn’t be tainted by non-biodegradable cigarette butts scattered throughout their grounds. I am proud to sponsor this legislation to protect and improve our beautiful network of parks and I thank Governor Hochul for helping New Yorkers enjoy the beauty of our parks by signing it into law.”

Fellow Democrat Jeffrey Dinowitz, a member of the New York State Assembly, said the law honors the spirit of public greenspace.

“New Yorkers head to our parks for fresh air and to foster a healthy lifestyle. Smoking is the opposite of that. I am very pleased the Governor Hochul has signed into law this important statewide ban on smoking in parks, and thank you to my colleagues for their vital support on this bill over the years,” Dinowitz said last month.

While New Yorkers aged 21 and older have been able to legally possess and use cannabis since last year, the state’s regulated weed market isn’t expected to launch until later this year.

Hochul took over as governor last summer after Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct, and she has taken a proactive role in shaping the state’s nascent legal cannabis industry ever since.

Last month, Hochul announced a $5 million grant in support of cannabis industry job training at New York community colleges.

“New York’s new cannabis industry is creating exciting opportunities, and we will ensure that New Yorkers who want careers in this growing sector have the quality training they need to be successful,” Hochul said in the announcement of the funding. “Diversity and inclusion are what makes New York’s workforce a competitive, powerful asset, and we will continue to take concrete steps to help ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate in the cannabis industry.”

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Cigarette smokers and vapers beware—a new California law could upend the state’s tobacco industry as we know it, and other states are following suit. Blaming cigarette butts piling up, the law focuses on cigarette and vape waste, rather than focusing on nicotine.

California lawmakers introduced a bill on January 25 that would ban single-use tobacco products with a goal to abate ongoing environmental issues. This affects nearly all types of cigarettes, which have single-use filters, and single-use tobacco vape products. It also targets tobacco products specifically.

Assemblymember Luz Rivas introduced Assembly Bill 1690, or the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act, along with Assemblymembers Cottie Petrie-Norris and Mark Stone. Principal co-authors including Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Boerner Horvath, Friedman, Lee, Nazarian, Quirk and Wicks also joined, as well as Senators Allen, Becker, Limón, Newman, Portantino and Wiener.

“This bill would prohibit a person or entity from selling, giving, or furnishing to another person of any age in this state a cigarette utilizing a single-use filter made of any material, an attachable and single-use plastic device meant to facilitate manual manipulation or filtration of a tobacco product, or a single-use electronic cigarette or vaporizer device,” the bill reads.

The bill also applies to rolling papers—but appears to apply specifically for tobacco uses. 

“… the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act, an enforcing agency, as defined, may assess civil penalties against any person, firm, or corporation that sells, gives, or furnishes specified tobacco and cigarette related items, including cigarette papers, to a person who is under 21 years of age, except as specified. The existing civil penalties range from $400 to $600 for a first violation, up to $5,000 to $6,000 for a 5th violation within a 5-year period.”

Fox 40 reports that the nicotine or cannabis is not necessarily the concern; instead, it’s the filters and vape pens piling up that is Assemblymember Luz Rivas’ primary battleground. “I want to be clear. This bill is not banning the sale of tobacco or marijuana in California. That’s not the goal of this bill,” said Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley).

Deliveries of said tobacco products would also be banned. “The bill would prohibit that selling, giving, or furnishing, whether conducted directly or indirectly through an in-person transaction, or by means of any public or private method of shipment or delivery to an address in this state,” it reads.

Local law enforcement will be responsible for implementing the law, and violators could face civil penalties of $500, if passed. “This bill would authorize a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney to assess a $500 civil fine against each person determined to have violated those prohibitions in a proceeding conducted pursuant to the procedures of the enforcing agency, as specified.”

Bill proponents said that single-use products are creating a host of environmental issues. After all, efforts in the state force public agencies to spend $41 million a year cleaning up cigarette filters, vapes and other single-use products.

“The smokers: They smoke and they toss. They risk a $1,000 fine by flicking a cigarette out of a vehicle, or throwing it on the beach, or out into the environment anywhere and that’s not a deterrent at all,” said Assemblymember Mark Stone (D- Monterey Bay).

Senator Josh Becker, who represents California’s 13th Senate District, announced on Twitter that he’s proud to support Assemblymember Rivas’ bill as a co-author.

A similar proposal is underway in New York state. The “Tobacco Product Waste Reduction Act” introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Judy Griffin would ban the sales of similar single-use tobacco products. 

In the upcoming months, expect more tobacco products to be introduced that work around the single-use model that we’ve all become accustomed to.

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