The US Supreme Court refused to hear R.J. Reynolds’ appeal on California’s flavored tobacco ban.
The US Supreme Court refused to consider R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's challenge to California’s ban on flavored tobacco products in the most populous US state, Reuters reported.
The justices dismissed an appeal by R.J. Reynolds and other plaintiffs of a lower court's ruling that affirmed California's law did not conflict with a federal statute regulating tobacco products.
California attorney general Rob Bonta, who supported the law in court, shared on X (previously known as Twitter) that the Supreme Court's ruling was "great news."
In 2020, California governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a prohibition on all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and vaping products with flavors like cotton candy. This legislation positioned California as the second state, after Massachusetts in 2019, to enforce a ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products. Some other states have also adopted their own restrictions or bans on flavored vaping products.
In November 2022, R.J. Reynolds, in conjunction with a coalition representing tobacco vendors, the Neighborhood Market Association, and a vape shop, initiated a lawsuit contending that the federal Tobacco Control Act, enforced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), preempts state and local regulations that prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products. But, a federal judge determined that these arguments were precluded by a prior ruling from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which upheld a comparable ban in Los Angeles County.
R.J. Reynolds unsuccessfully petitioned the US Supreme Court to halt the implementation of the California law while it pursued its appeals. The justices rejected this request in December 2022.
In June 2023, the 9th Circuit upheld the judge's decision on California's legislation, subsequent to the US Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal of the Los Angeles ruling earlier in 2023.