Existing law establishes, within the California Health and Human Services Agency, the State Department of Public Health, which has authority over various programs promoting public health, including the California Tobacco Control Program. Existing law requires the department to, among other things, establish a program on tobacco use and health to reduce tobacco use in California by conducting health education interventions and behavior change programs at the state level, in the community, and other nonschool settings. Existing law also requires the department to conduct statewide surveillance of tobacco-related behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes and evaluate the department’s local and state tobacco control programs. Under existing law, the department funds the Kick It California program, which is a tobacco cessation program.

This bill would require the department, no later than July 1, 2027, to develop signage and a standardized written notice for lung cancer screening, which would include, among other things, eligibility criteria for lung cancer screening and the toll-free telephone number of the Kick It California tobacco cessation program. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2028, a retailer, as defined, engaged in the retail sale of cigarettes or tobacco products to prominently display the signage developed by the department, and provide the written notice with the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products. The bill would require the department to require the Kick It California program to, among other things, evaluate lung cancer screening eligibility for individuals contacting the program.