On September 29, 2023, WLF urged the Supreme Court to review, and ultimately to reverse, the Ninth Circuit’s holding that the federal Tobacco Control Act (TCA) does not preclude States like California from banning the sale of certain FDA-authorized tobacco products. In 2020 California enacted a law banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. That flavor ban clashes with the TCA’s preemption clause, which prohibits States and localities from banning the sale of tobacco products for failure to conform to state or local standards that differ from the TCA’s. In its amicus brief urging review, WLF argues that California cannot escape federal preemption simply by recasting its flavor ban as a regulation of tobacco “sales” rather than tobacco “manufacturing.” Under the TCA, a standard is a standard for preemption purposes no matter how it is enforced or described.
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