Columbus, Ohio Plans to Sue Over State’s New Tobacco Preemption Clause

Not so fast.

Last week, the Ohio Senate overrode Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of language that prevented cities and counties from enacting their own tobacco laws stricter than state law, i.e. a preemption clause. It seemed to be the end of a 14-month saga that began in December 2022 when the Columbus City Council passed a ban on flavored sales in Ohio’s capital city.

The Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly, which was in a special lame-duck session targeted at other issues, immediately responded by passing a preemption clause. In January 2023, DeWine—also a Republican—vetoed the bill, citing his longstanding objection to the sale of flavored vapes. Because the original language was passed by the outgoing General Assembly, the current General Assembly wasn’t able to override that veto. Instead, they added the language into Ohio’s budget bill. DeWine responded by vetoing that language.

Last December, the Ohio House of Representatives overrode DeWine’s second veto and, last week, the Ohio Senate followed suit. With the veto overrode, the new state law will go into effect on April 24, meaning that cities like Columbus will no longer be able to enforce their bans on flavored tobacco sales after that date.

According to a report from WCMH, the Columbus City Council is drafting a lawsuit against the state. Zach Klein, the city attorney, said that he wants to challenge the law on the grounds of municipal home rule, which he believes gives cities the ability to decide laws like these. Klein has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to look at home rule issues regarding other issues.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.