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Troutman Pepper Locke Tobacco Practice
Appellate Court Rules that California Courts Have Personal Jurisdiction Over Out-of-State Distributor
Posted in Significant Cases, State Regulatory
Several years ago, the state of California filed suit against Native Wholesale Supply Company (“NWS”) for allegedly violating California’s MSA, cigarette fire safety, and unfair competition laws. NWS, a tribally-chartered corporation headquartered in New York, sells and distributes cigarettes manufactured by the Canadian tribally-owned corporation Grand River Enterprises Six Nations. In California, NWS primarily sells these cigarettes to Big Sandy Rancheria. Big Sandy – or other Indian retailers in California to which Big Sandy directs NWS to transport Grand River cigarettes – then sells the cigarettes to the California general public. Since late 2003, NWS has delivered over 325 million cigarettes, worth nearly $12 million, to California.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Posted in Legislation, State Regulatory
The Chicago Tobacco Prevention Project (“CTPP”) is awarding grants to several housing organizations to encourage the adoption of smoke-free policies in apartment and condos in Chicago. The CTPP represents an effort to create more smoke-free multi-unit residential properties in Chicago as part of the project’s overall effort to reduce smoking rates and exposure to secondhand smoke. The Project is run by the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, in collaboration with City of Chicago’s Department of Public Health. For more information: www.lungchicago.org/ctpp
Enforcement of New York Cigarette Tax Law Begins
Posted in State Regulatory
The state of New York has begun enforcing its new regime for taxing cigarettes sold on Native American reservations. The regime, enacted last summer but stalled by numerous court challenges, generally requires New York-licensed distributors to sell only tax-paid cigarettes to reservation retailers, with certain exemptions for sales to tribe members.
States Begin to Change Laws in Reaction to E-Cigarettes
Posted in Legislation, State Regulatory
Effective July 1, 2011, it is a criminal offense to sell electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) to minors in the State of Colorado. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed the law in March, which is codified at Colorado Revised Statutes, section 18-13-121. The new law characterizes e-cigarettes as a “tobacco product.” A person who violates the new law commits a class 2 petty offense, which may be punishable by a fine of two hundred dollars. The new law also provides that municipalities may impose more stringent requirements than provided in this section of the Colorado Criminal Code.
FDA Issues “Guidance” on Exemptions from Substantial Equivalence Requirements
Posted in FDA
On July 29, 2011, FDA issued a final rule to establish procedures for requesting exemptions from the substantial equivalence requirements of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Unfortunately, despite the vague statutory language regarding such exemptions, and numerous industry requests for more clarity regarding such exemptions, the final rule provided almost no guidance.
Research Firm’s Study regarding Impact of New Cigarette Label Requirements May Be Flawed
Posted in FDA
A recently completed study by research firm IBISWorld has concluded that the new graphic labels, which were just released by the FDA and include images of rotting teeth and corpses, will result in a decline of less than one percent in overall U.S. tobacco revenues in 2013, the date when the new labels must be used.
Lawsuits Likely Following FDA’s Release of Mandated Graphic Warning Labels
Posted in FDA, Significant Cases
In the wake of the FDA’s release of new graphic cigarette health warnings that must cover the top fifty percent of both the front and rear panels of each cigarette package as of September 2012, the four leading tobacco companies are threatening legal action, claiming the required warnings violate their property and free speech rights.
“Traditional” Cigars to Be Exempt from FDA’s Reach?
Posted in FDA
Proposed legislation would exempt certain cigars from the FDA’s jurisdiction.
South Carolina Bill Introduced to Raise Weight Requirement for Cigars
Posted in Legislation
South Carolina is the latest state to introduce legislation aimed at the filtered cigar industry. Filtered cigars generally look like cigarettes, except that filtered cigars are wrapped in tobacco or paper containing tobacco. As a result, the outer wrappings of filtered cigars are brown. However, filtered cigars are often packaged like cigarettes, in packs of 20, and cartons of 10 packs.