U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Hear Challenge to California’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

The U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it will not hear an appeal to California’s near-total ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products.

On Monday, the court published a list of orders as well as denials, included in the list of denials was R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al. v Robert Bonta, et al., the case filed by R.J. Reynolds against the state of California.

The ban, which went into effect on Dec. 21, 2022, was the result of a state Senate bill approved and signed into law in 2020. Reynolds and others challenged the ban in both courtrooms and also by using California’s direct democracy laws to try to get voters to overturn the law, which also served as a near two-year delay for the law. In November 2022, 63.4 percent of ballots cast by California voters were in favor of the ban. Shortly after the ban was approved by voters, the plaintiffs in the case appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, first seeking an emergency petition to block the ban from going into effect, but the court denied that request.

California’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products contains an exemption for flavored cigars, though to qualify for the exemption, the cigar must be handmade, use a whole leaf tobacco wrapper and have a wholesale price of at least $12. However, there remains some vagueness as to what the “wholesale price” is as California’s other tobacco tax laws use the term “wholesale cost,” something that in and of itself has been scrutinized by tobacco companies for other purposes. There are also exemptions for flavored pipe and shisha tobaccos. The ban does not prohibit the use of flavored tobacco products, and it does not make it illegal to buy such products from out-of-state retailers.

The challenge to the state’s ban was led by R.J. Reynolds, a unit of British American Tobacco, and was joined by American Snuff Company, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., Modoral Brands, Neighborhood Market Association, and Moria, LLC, a retailer doing business under the name Vapin’ the 619. Several of those plaintiffs also tried to get the Supreme Court to take up a challenge to Los Angeles County’s flavored tobacco ban, though that was denied in February 2023.

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 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.