Supporting Healthier Communities: Attorney General Bonta Announces 2026–2027 Tobacco Grant Funding Availability for Local Agencies

Funding helps combat the illegal sale of tobacco products to youth

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced that the California Department of Justice (DOJ) is now accepting proposals for its 2026-2027 Tobacco Grant Program, which will provide approximately $28.5 million in grant funding to eligible local agencies. The program aims to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to our youth. Eligible applicants include any California local public agency with authority to enforce tobacco-related state or local laws on retail sales and marketing, such as law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, city attorneys, county counsels, public health departments, cities, counties, and public school and community college districts. This year’s funding will prioritize retail enforcement and retailer education as part of Attorney General Bonta’s commitment to fighting the illegal sales and marketing of tobacco products to minors. Information on the application process is available at oag.ca.gov/tobaccogrants.

“Protecting Californians — especially young people — from the harms of tobacco remains a priority,” said Attorney General Bonta. “These grants empower local agencies to enforce our laws and push back against unlawful tobacco sales and marketing. I encourage eligible applicants across the state to apply and join us in this critical work.”

DOJ will also hold a Zoom webinar on Tuesday, May 5, at 10:00 AM PT to provide guidance to those interested in applying for the Tobacco Grant Program. To RSVP for the webinar, please click here. The program is funded by Proposition 56, the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016. To date, the Tobacco Grant Program has distributed approximately $241 million in grant funding to approximately 544 grantees through a competitive process.

Companies target youth by making and marketing tobacco products with a myriad of kid-friendly flavors and loading those products with nicotine, a highly addictive chemical that harms the developing brains of children and young adults. Surveys show flavored tobacco products remain the products of choice for young people. In 2024, among students reporting current tobacco product use in California, 84.5% used flavored products. Tobacco usage during adolescence increases the risk for lifelong nicotine addiction and adverse health consequences.

DOJ’s Tobacco Grant Program aims to reduce childhood addiction to tobacco products by supporting local partners who:

• Enforce the statewide flavor ban and similar local flavor ordinances.
• Prosecute and penalize retailers who violate statewide and local tobacco laws, including those who sell or market tobacco products to youth under the age of 21, including over the internet.
• Conduct retail inspections to ensure compliance.