The Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging California’s voter-approved prohibition on flavored tobacco products. The ban, passed in November 2022, faced an immediate lawsuit from R.J. Reynolds and others claiming federal preemption.
After initially seeking an emergency injunction, Reynolds pursued lower court appeals that were rejected. The Supreme Court’s decision ends Reynolds’ legal avenues for overturning the flavor ban and allows California’s restrictive law to remain in effect.
Alongside Massachusetts, California now stands alone in banning both menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes. The sweeping prohibition faces ongoing criticism as an overreach of state power, restriction of adult choice, and catalyst of illegal markets. However other state and local governments may pursue similar blanket bans, pending FDA action on a national menthol cigarette standard.
Reynolds has failed to convince federal courts that California creating a tobacco product standard violates FDA authority under the Tobacco Control Act. For now, access to flavored nicotine products in one of America’s largest states will depend on changing political winds.
