Newport cigarettes are illegal to sell in California, but they are not illegal to own or smoke. The state’s flavored tobacco ban, in force since December 21, 2022, prohibits retailers from selling menthol cigarettes and every other flavored tobacco product. The law targets the store side of the counter. If you already have a pack of Newports, or you picked some up on a trip to Nevada, you are not committing a crime by carrying or smoking them in California.1CDPH – CA.gov. Frequently Asked Questions: California’s Flavored Tobacco Products Retail Law
What the Ban Actually Covers
Senate Bill 793 became law in 2020, survived a tobacco industry lawsuit, and was affirmed by California voters through Proposition 31 in November 2022 with roughly 63% of the vote. Enforcement began that December after the U.S. Supreme Court refused an industry request to pause it.2California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 104559.5
The statute bars retailers and their employees from selling, offering for sale, or even stocking with intent to sell any flavored tobacco product. Menthol cigarettes, including every Newport variety, sit squarely inside that prohibition. So do flavored vapes and e-liquids, flavored cigars and cigarillos, flavored smokeless tobacco, and flavored wraps.3CDPH – CA.gov. Frequently Asked Questions: California’s Flavored Tobacco Sales Law
California defines a flavor broadly. Any taste or smell an ordinary consumer can notice, other than tobacco itself, counts. That includes menthol, mint, wintergreen, fruit, chocolate, vanilla, candy, spice, herb, and any detectable “cooling sensation.” That last phrase matters, because it closes a loophole some manufacturers tried to use with synthetic cooling agents.2California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 104559.5
What About the New “Non-Menthol” Newports?
Shortly after the ban took effect, R.J. Reynolds rolled out reformulated cigarettes marketed as “non-menthol” alternatives, including Newport EXP Non-Menthol Mix and Newport EXP Non-Menthol Max. They were aimed directly at menthol smokers. Research found the products contain a synthetic compound called WS-3, which produces a cooling sensation similar to menthol without the minty taste.
California’s Attorney General ruled in April 2023 that these reformulated Newports are “presumptively flavored” under state law. Formal notices went to R.J. Reynolds warning that the products’ marketing and packaging implicitly communicate a characterizing flavor, which triggers the statute’s rebuttable-presumption provision.4State of California – Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. Notice of Determination 23-04-A5 Re Newport Retailers stocking the “non-menthol” versions face the same consequences as those selling traditional Newports.
Can You Get in Trouble for Buying or Carrying Newports?
No. The California statute regulates sellers, not smokers. Possessing, using, or purchasing a flavored tobacco product is not a crime under state law.1CDPH – CA.gov. Frequently Asked Questions: California’s Flavored Tobacco Products Retail Law Bringing a pack home from another state for personal use is not prohibited.
Reselling is a different matter. Selling unstamped or untaxed cigarettes in California is a misdemeanor punishable by up to $25,000 in fines and up to a year in county jail, with an additional $100 penalty per carton. If unpaid taxes top $25,000 within any 12-month period, the offense becomes a felony carrying 16 months to three years in state prison.5California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law – Chapter 10 Violations Driving to Reno for a few packs is not the same as driving there for a trunk full.
Online Orders and Deliveries Into California
Ordering Newports online for delivery to a California address does not work around the ban. Any retailer shipping tobacco into California must comply with California’s laws, including the flavored tobacco prohibition, whether the package goes to your door or to a store for pickup.3CDPH – CA.gov. Frequently Asked Questions: California’s Flavored Tobacco Sales Law
Federal law backs the state up. The PACT Act requires any delivery seller shipping tobacco into a state to follow that state’s tobacco laws as if the transaction happened locally. Sellers must verify the buyer’s age through a government-source database and collect an adult signature with photo ID at delivery, and applicable state and local excise taxes must be paid before the shipment is handed to a carrier.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 376a Delivery Sales A legitimate online seller will not ship menthols to a California address; one that does is breaking both state and federal law.
Cities Where Rules Go Further
The state ban is a floor. Some California cities and counties have gone further.
Beverly Hills banned the sale of virtually all tobacco products starting January 1, 2021, with narrow exceptions for three grandfathered cigar lounges and for hotel gift shops selling to guests. Menthol had already been off the shelves there since late 2018. Newports cannot be bought in Beverly Hills through normal retail at all.7City of Beverly Hills. Information for Businesses – Section: Ban on the Sale of All Tobacco Products in Beverly Hills
Los Angeles County’s ordinance reaches products the state law leaves partially exempt, including flavored loose-leaf tobacco, flavored hookah tobacco, and tobacco flavor enhancers.8Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Non-Exhaustive List of Prohibited Flavored Tobacco Products Other municipalities add licensing conditions or run their own enforcement.
The Federal Menthol Rule Is Off the Table
California acted in part because the federal government has not banned menthol nationally. The 2009 Tobacco Control Act prohibited characterizing flavors in cigarettes but specifically carved out menthol.9U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Tobacco Product Standards The FDA proposed a rule to close that gap in May 2022 and sent the final version to the Office of Management and Budget in late 2023, but the rule never took effect. The Trump administration withdrew the proposed menthol cigarette and flavored cigar bans on January 21, 2025.
None of that changes what happens inside California. The state ban rests on its own authority, and Newports remain unavailable from any lawful California retailer regardless of what the FDA does or does not do next.