A California lawmaker proposed a bill Jan. 25 to ban disposable electronic vapes and tobacco filters to protect public health and the environment. Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley) introduced Assembly Bill 1690 at a virtual press conference alongside the bill’s co-authors, assemblymembers Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) and Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine). “For more than half a century, tobacco filters have caused a public and environmental health crisis,” Rivas said. “The Ocean Protection Council’s statewide microplastic strategy recommended that California prohibits the sale of single-use tobacco products including cigarette filters and electronic vapes. ” If signed into law, AB 1690 would prohibit any person or entity from selling a cigarette with a single-use filter, a single-use electronic cigarette, a plastic device attached to tobacco, or a vaporizer device. Violators will be charged civil penalties of $500 per violation. At the conference, Stone explained that cigarette filters do not provide health benefits …