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As reported in the Boston Globe, the City of Worcester seems to be among one of the first localities to take advantage of powers provided  by the federal 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.   That Act allows not only states but also localities to impose “specific bans or restrictions on the time, place and manner” of cigarette advertising.  The Worcester City Council, taking advantage of such provisions enacted a local ordinance banning any tobacco brand advertising visible from streets, parks and schools.   The initiative for the City Council action was a mounting campaign by teenagers who had statics regarding not only the health effect of smoking but also how outdoor advertising was concentrated in low-income communities, especially in communities of color.

On April 25, FDA announced that it will regulate smokeless electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) as tobacco products and not as drug-delivery devices, which are subject to more stringent regulation.  FDA said it will propose rule changes to treat e-cigarettes the same as cigarettes and other tobacco products.  While FDA regulation is coming into focus, uncertain issues involve how state and local governments will regulate e-cigarettes.  It is critical that e-cigarette manufacturers and vendors gain an awareness of this rapidly changing regulatory landscape.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal this week, the 46 state-signatories to the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement are negotiating a settlement of claims by the signatory-manufacturers that the states have failed to “diligently enforce” escrow requirements applicable to the non-signatory nonparticipating manufacturers.   The signatory-manufacturers are attempting to recoup as much as two billion dollars from the states.

This week, the FDA announced the nine new cigarette health warnings that, as of September 2012, must be placed on the top fifty percent of both the front and rear panels of each cigarette package. The new warnings are larger, more prominent and include images that correspond to each warning.  The new warnings must also be placed in the upper portion of each cigarette advertisement, occupying at least 20 percent of the area of the advertisement.

In February, National Tobacco Company, the fourth largest manufacturer and marketer of roll-your-own tobacco products in the United States, filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia seeking a declaration that certain provisions of the Prohibition Against Selling Tobacco Products to Minors Amendment Act of 2009 (the “Act”) are unconstitutional and an injunction prohibiting the District from enforcing the provisions.

While cigarette tobacco volumes are somewhat declining across the industry, and majors are looking at or entering alternative markets such as smokeless and cigars, Lorillard has made it clear that for the time being they are going to concentrate on their core products–Newport, which has approximately 35% of the menthol market, and a non-menthol Newport, recently introduced in view of the FDA’s advisory panel’s review of the impacts of menthol cigarettes.