Media Contact:
Megan Manning
manningm@ash.org
Tobacco Endgame Policies Work and Do Not Harm the Economy
Statement from Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health
February 3, 2026
Laws prohibiting the sale of commercial tobacco products in Beverly Hills and Manhattan Beach, California have been in place for just over five years. That is enough time for researchers to draw some conclusions on their impact.
Researchers from the University of California-San Francisco, the California Department of Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health recently published their findings after a multi-year study on the impact of the endgame laws in the two cities. Their conclusions surpass the expectations of even the most optimistic public health advocates and nullify the doom-and-gloom predictions of the tobacco industry.
After implementing their sales bans in January 2021, both cities achieved virtually zero tobacco sales within months of implementation. This is unsurprising, since it became illegal to do so. But data showed that it did not lead to a decline in sales of non-tobacco products at retailers which formally sold them. This refutes one of the main arguments of tobacco industry opponents – that people who buy cigarettes along with other products like gasoline or milk will take all of their business elsewhere. It didn’t happen.
What’s more, overall tobacco sales did not increase in neighboring jurisdictions, another industry prediction. It is important to remember that these are both small cities surrounded by other jurisdictions lacking tobacco sales bans. This suggests that implementing tobacco sales bans in broader geographical areas will be at least as successful.
The idea of ending tobacco sales, rather than minimizing them, is no longer wishful thinking – it’s an effective policy being implemented.
As Professor Justin White of Boston University School of Public Health, one of the authors, said: “These two city policies did exactly what they were designed to do.”
ASH was pleased to support the passage of these ground-breaking laws, as well as the 28 subsequent successful endgame campaigns. It’s time to put an end to the tobacco epidemic. We know how to do it, and we know it works.