In the wake of the FDA’s release of new graphic cigarette health warnings that must cover the top fifty percent of both the front and rear panels of each cigarette package as of September 2012, the four leading tobacco companies are threatening legal action, claiming the required warnings violate their property and free speech rights.

South Carolina is the latest state to introduce legislation aimed at the filtered cigar industry.  Filtered cigars generally look like cigarettes, except that filtered cigars are wrapped in tobacco or paper containing tobacco.  As a result, the outer wrappings of filtered cigars are brown.  However, filtered cigars are often packaged like cigarettes, in packs of 20, and cartons of 10 packs.

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.