A unit of local government in West Virginia, the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Board, is currently holding hearings on whether to ban the use of electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) in certain areas.  The proposed Wheeling-Ohio County Clean Air Regulation would change the definition of “smoking” to “include[] the use of an e‐cigarette which creates a vapor, in any manner or in any form, or the use of any oral smoking device.”

Did you know that some states are taking the position that a contract cigarette manufacturer can be held liable for escrow payments as a “successor” manufacturer simply because the manufacturer made the same brand of cigarettes as a prior manufacturer? 

We have previously written about New York’s recent effort to collect taxes for cigarette sales on Native American reservations.  We have also written about the ongoing arbitration between the states and the major tobacco companies regarding allegations that the states have not “diligently enforced” their state escrow statutes. 

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.