California’s cigarette tax and escrow requirements apply to inter-tribal sales of cigarettes, held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Big Sandy Rancheria Enterprises v. Bonta. Big Sandy Rancheria Enterprises (“BSRE”), a federally-chartered corporation wholly-owned by the Big Sandy Rancheria Band of Western Mono Indians, brought the case to challenge California’s application of its tobacco directory, licensing, and tax laws to BSRE’s sales of native-manufactured cigarettes to other Indian tribes.

Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan recently announced that his office settled violations of the state’s delivery sale law with three online electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) sellers. Since December 2020 and including these most recent settlements, the state has collected $472,500 from 13 companies for such violations, signaling the state’s growing desire to enforce this law against online ENDS sellers.

On Friday, July 23, 2021, the attached bill was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. In the Senate it was introduced by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), along with Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Mitt Romney (R-UT).  The House companion bill was…

We previously blogged about two cases challenging the constitutionality of FDA’s “Deeming Rule,” the authority by which FDA extended its regulation of tobacco products to electronic nicotine delivery systems (“ENDS”).

Both of these cases, Big Time Vapes, Inc. v. FDA and Moose Jooce v. FDA recently hit a dead end when the Supreme Court denied both plaintiffs’ petitions for review.

Smokable hemp is one of the fastest growing submarkets of the hemp industry, but hemp growers and manufacturers in Texas may not be able to take advantage. A pair of cases in Texas district and appellate courts are trying to make sure that’s not the case.

Troutman Pepper Strategies (TPS), a full-service government affairs and issue management arm of Troutman Pepper, regularly communicates with members of Congress and staff, including relevant committee staff, regarding the status of tobacco-related legislation and policy. These relationships include and extend beyond the congressional committees with tobacco jurisdiction, such as the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the Senate HELP Committee. Additionally, TPS communicates with agency officials, including the Food and Drug Administration and the White House, about tobacco-related regulations and policy.

Given the massive wave of medical and adult use marijuana laws being passed across the country, the average person may think there is no longer any debate as to whether marijuana has legitimate medical applications. On June 10, 2021, however the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard argument on exactly that question. The case has potential to set important precedent not just for marijuana scheduling, but also other Schedule I substances being studied for their therapeutic potential.

On June 11, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdrew an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) for premium cigars issued in March 2018 as part of the Spring 2021 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which is published twice a year. Nevertheless, FDA commissioned a study to obtain information similar to what it sought in the ANPRM. The study is scheduled to be complete in Spring 2022. Thus, there is still a chance FDA takes a modified approach with respect to premium cigars in the future.

The Troutman Pepper Tobacco Team will participate in the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Annual Conference.  The event is virtual and will be held May 18-20, 2021.

The conference has a well-rounded agenda addressing timely topics of interest for tobacco and nicotine industry stakeholders.  FDA Center for Tobacco Products …