14 Cities File Lawsuit Against Ohio’s New Tobacco Preemption Law

Earlier this year, the Ohio General Assembly passed a preemption law that prevents cities and counties from enacting their own tobacco regulations that are stricter than the state laws. That move, which came by way of overriding Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto, was part of a year-long battle about whether flavored tobacco sales would be banned in Ohio.

There is now another chapter in that battle, as 14 cities have filed a legal challenge to the law. If they are successful, those cities would be able to introduce their own laws.

A collection of 14 cities—Columbus, Bexley, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dublin, Gahanna, Grandview Heights, Heath, Hilliard, Oxford, Reynoldsburg, Upper Arlington, Whitehall and Worthington—filed a case in Franklin County claiming the law is in violation of the state’s constitution, specifically a line that states that they have “have the ‘authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within [their] limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws.'” They also argue that the ban would adversely affect citizens.

This saga was kicked off in December 2022 when the Columbus City Council introduced a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The Republican-controlled Ohio legislature was in a special session to deal with other issues but quickly passed a preemption law, which was then vetoed by DeWine.  The ban was passed by the state’s General Assembly again, this time as part of its budget proposal, then vetoed again by DeWine before the General Assembly voted to override the veto in January.

The case seeks a temporary injunction to keep the ban from going into effect on April 23.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.