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LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Tobacco companies are challenging Los Angeles County’s anti-vaping law, claiming it punishes them and adult users of their flavored products.
R.J. Reynolds, American Snuff Company and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company filed a lawsuit June 1 in federal court, ceding that the county is right to be concerned with tobacco use by those who are not of age but claiming it went too far with the Los Angeles County Tobacco Ordinance.
“The ordinance bans the sale or distribution of every conceivable flavored tobacco product, including menthol cigarettes and flavored smokeless tobacco products,” the lawsuit says.
“This sweeping ban is preempted by federal law and therefore is unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.”
The vaping industry has also challenged the law, arguing that most of the harm done has been by black-market products and that products containing THC are exempted even though it is the primary source linked to the outbreak of recent illnesses.