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A bill, H.R.7337 – the Stop Tobacco Sales to Youth Act of 2018, was introduced in Congress recently to amend the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (“PACT”) Act to include electronic cigarettes and pipe tobacco. The PACT Act currently requires Internet sellers of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to pay applicable excise and sales taxes as if the sale were a face-to-face transaction, prohibits using U.S. Mail for these sales, and requires age verification. Continue Reading Bill to Restrict Internet Sales of E-Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Introduced in Congress

Louisiana has redefined “vapor products” to include nicotine and non-nicotine products. The law became effective on May 30, 2018 when Governor John Bel Edwards signed HB239.

The definitional change applies to laws banning sales to minors, requiring retail permitting and prohibiting self-service displays and vending machines except under limited circumstances. Continue Reading Louisiana Broadens Vapor Laws’ Reach to Include Non-Nicotine Products

In connection with the FDA’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPR”) addressing flavored tobacco products, a group of State Attorneys General has recommended that the agency ban all flavored tobacco products.  In their comments on the ANPR, the Attorneys General of New York, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island assert that the FDA should ban flavors (including menthol) in all tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars and electronic nicotine delivery systems (“ENDS”).  The existing flavor ban applies only to “characterizing” flavors in cigarettes, and allows for mentholated cigarettes. Continue Reading State Attorneys General, U.S. Senators Seek to Ban All Flavored Tobacco Products

Legislators in New York are looking to pass a bill that would ban the sale of flavored e-liquid tobacco products.

Sponsored by New York State Senator Kemp Hannon, Senate Bill S8610 looks to “eliminate the temptation for young people in New York State to try flavored electronic cigarettes and in turn reduce the number of people who become regular users of tobacco products” by prohibiting the sale and distribution of flavored e-liquids used in electronic cigarettes. Continue Reading New York Bill Looks to Ban the Sale of Flavored E-Liquid

Should vapor products be regulated the same, regardless of whether they contain nicotine? A bill before the Louisiana State Legislature would accomplish just that, with respect to the State’s laws on such things as retailer permits, over-the-counter sales, self-service displays, and vending machines. Continue Reading Louisiana Bill Would Extend Vapor Laws to Non-Nicotine Products

Menthol cigarettes have been around since the 1920s. Will New Jersey become the first State to ban them?

Pending before the New Jersey Legislature are Assembly Bill No. 2185 (primary sponsor Del. Herb Conaway, Jr. [D-Dist. 7]) and Senate Bill No. 1947 (primary sponsors Sen. Joseph F. Vitale [D-Dist. 19] and Sen. Robert W. Singer [R-Dist. 30]). The bills are identical. If enacted, they would “include[] menthol and clove cigarettes in the current prohibition against the sale and distribution of flavored cigarettes.” Continue Reading Menthol Ban Pending Before New Jersey Legislature

Pending before the New Jersey Legislature is Assembly Bill No. 1586, which, among other things, would “impose[] the New Jersey Tobacco Products Wholesale Sales and Use Tax on electronic cigarettes.” New Jersey does not currently impose excise taxes on electronic cigarettes. The bill has been referred to the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, where it remains under consideration. Continue Reading New Jersey Legislature Considering 75% Tax on Electronic Cigarettes, Other Tobacco Product Tax and Licensure Changes

While the major tobacco companies pursue modified risk tobacco applications with the Food and Drug Administration, a number of bills are pending in state legislatures that would lower or eliminate tobacco product excise taxes for products that receive an FDA modified risk order. Continue Reading Major Tobacco Companies Pursue Legislation to Lower Taxes for Modified Risk Tobacco Products

Pending before the Mississippi Legislature is House Bill 906, which, if enacted, would increase the “tobacco equity tax” applicable to cigarettes manufactured by non-signatories to the State’s 1997 tobacco settlement agreement in Moore ex rel. State v. American Tobacco Co., et al., No. 94-1429 (Miss. Ch. Ct. Jackson Cnty.) (the “tobacco settlement agreement”). On January 11, 2018, the bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, which is chaired by the bill’s principal author, Representative Jeffrey C. Smith (R-Dist. 39). Continue Reading Increase Proposed for Mississippi’s “Tobacco Equity Tax”