Parallel bills (H 646 and SB 97) in the Texas legislature would regulate vapor products in the same manner as tobacco products by including vapor products within the same restrictions applicable to tobacco products.
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State Regulatory
Virginia Legislation Would Restrict E-Cigarette Sales
A number of bills have been introduced in the Virginia legislature that would restrict sales and marketing of vapor products.
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Democratic Congressional Representatives Push For Classification of E-Cigarettes Under the MSA
On December 19, Representative Henry Waxman, Senator Dick Durbin, and Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. sent letters to the twenty-nine State Attorneys General who were signatories of the August 8, 2014 letter to the FDA regarding regulation of e-cigarettes. The December 19th letters lauded the continuing efforts of the State Attorneys General to encourage the regulation of e-cigarettes and called on them to classify e-cigarettes as “cigarettes” under the Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”). Such classification would, among other things, impose cigarette advertising restrictions on vapor products.
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Troutman Sanders Tobacco Practice Publishes Article on E-Cigarettes in Smokeshop Magazine
An article by the Troutman Sanders Tobacco practice appears in the December issue of Smokeshop Magazine. The article, titled “Hey Legislators: Vaping Products Don’t Belong in the MSA!” discusses the “longshot” bid by congressmen to have e-cigarettes included in the Master Settlement Agreement (“MSA”).
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California Legislature Seeks to Extend STAKE Act to E-Cigarettes
On December 1, Senator Jerry Hill of the California legislature introduced a bill that would extend the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act (“STAKE Act”) to ban sales of electronic cigarettes to minors. …
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Retailers Challenge Chicago Flavor Ordinance
A group of tobacco retailers has challenged a Chicago ordinance that generally bans the sale of flavored tobacco products within 500 feet of a school. The ordinance does not apply to tobacco stores that derive more than 80% of their revenue from tobacco sales. …
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New York City Proposes to Include E-Cigarettes in Flavor Ban
The New York City Council has recently proposed a measure that would prohibit so-called “characterizing flavors” in e-cigarettes. The move would subject vapor products to the existing ban on “characterizing flavors” in all tobacco products, which only allows flavored tobacco products to be sold in tobacco bars that derive a certain percentage of their revenue from tobacco sales.
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Troutman Sanders Tobacco Practice Partner to Moderate Panel at ABA Fall Council Meeting
Bryan Haynes, Troutman Sanders tobacco practice partner, will be attending the 2014 American Bar Association Section of State & Local Government Fall Council Meeting from October 9-12 in Denver, Colorado. Bryan will act as moderator during the October 9th afternoon panel entitled “The Regulation (or not!) of E-Cigarettes.” …
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Big Win for Small Tobacco in Texas
In 2013, the Texas legislature introduced and approved House Bill 3525, which imposed a 55-cent-per-pack fee on cigarettes manufactured by companies that did not participate in the Texas tobacco Settlement Agreement. The Texas Small Tobacco Coalition and Global Tobacco, Inc. filed a lawsuit challenging the fee against the Texas Attorney General and Comptroller. …
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Twenty-Nine State Attorneys General Call for Tougher Regulations of Electronic Cigarettes
On August 8, 2014, a group of Attorneys General from 29 states submitted comments in response to the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) Notice of Proposed Rule deeming certain tobacco products subject to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. In their letter, the group of Attorneys General stated that “[w]hile the Proposed Rule addresses some of our concerns, it fails to address matters of particular concern, such as characterizing flavors, the marketing of e-cigarettes, and the sale of tobacco products over the Internet.” As a result, the group of Attorneys General advocates, among other things, that the FDA should do the following:…
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