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(Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for California to enforce a voter-approved ban in America’s most-populous state on flavored tobacco products, rejecting R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s bid to block it on the grounds that the policy conflicted with federal law.
The justices denied the emergency request by R.J. Reynolds, a unit of British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI), and other plaintiffs to put on hold the ban on selling all flavored tobacco products in the state – including for vaping – that was overwhelmingly endorsed through a ballot measure on Nov. 8.
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in 2020 signed a law to ban products including menthol cigarettes and cotton candy-flavored vaping products, responding to concerns about a rise in e-cigarette and tobacco use by teens.
The ban’s implementation was delayed after a coalition representing the tobacco industry gathered enough signatures to put to voters a ballot measure that would halt California from becoming the largest state to date to bar flavored tobacco product sales.
But nearly two-thirds of voters casting ballots on the measure known as Proposition 31 approved the sales ban.
A day after the vote, R.J. Reynolds sued to block California officials from allowing the ban to take effect as planned on Dec. 21. It sued alongside a group representing tobacco retailers, the Neighborhood Market Association, and a vape shop.
