The saga to make flavored tobacco products illegal in Ohio has entered yet another chapter.
On Friday, Judge Mark Serrott of the Franklin County Common Pleas Court ruled against the State of Ohio, finding a recently passed statewide preemption law unconstitutional. Serrott’s ruling will allow the 21 cities named in the lawsuit to enforce bans against flavored tobacco products, though cities not named in the lawsuit will be unable to do so.
This is the latest turn in an 18-month battle over whether the sales of flavored tobacco products can be banned in Ohio. It started in December 2022 when the Columbus City Council, the lead plaintiff in this lawsuit, passed a ban on the sales of flavored tobacco products. The Republican-controlled Ohio General Assembly, which was in a special lame-duck session targeted at other issues, immediately responded by passing a preemption clause, which would have prevented cities from enacting their own bans stricter than state law.
In January 2023, Gov. Mike DeWine—also a Republican—vetoed the bill, citing his longstanding objection to the sale of flavored vapes. Because of a technicality, the General Assembly wasn’t able to override DeWine’s veto.
Later last year, the General Assembly tried to pass the preemption language again, and this time, it overrode DeWine’s second veto. After that, Columbus and others sued, and Judge Serrott issued a temporary injunction, which kept Columbus’ law in effect and prevented the state law from being enforced.
This issue is not settled. The state has said it will appeal Serrott’s ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Cities that are not part of the lawsuit are still covered under state law. The following cities are the only Ohio cities that can enforce bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products:
- Athens
- Barberton
- Bexley
- Cincinnati
- Cleveland
- Columbus
- Dublin
- Gahanna
- Grandview Heights
- Heath
- Hilliard
- Kent
- North Ridgeville
- Oberlin
- Oxford
- Reynoldsburg
- Springfield
- Upper Arlington
- Toledo
- Whitehall
- Worthington