Ohio Senate blocks cities from banning flavored tobacco

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A law banning local governments from enforcing flavored tobacco laws will soon go into effect, despite the governor vetoing it twice.

The law takes away home-rule authority from local governments to enforce tobacco regulations stricter than the states; so, when the law does go into effect, that means cities like Columbus, with flavored tobacco bans, will no longer be able to enforce it. In 89 days, on April 24, the law will go into effect.

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“It is a big win for big tobacco,” Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) said. “They’ve lobbied this, they’ve been all over this, they want this. Children are going to suffer.”

“We think having a patchwork approach to regulating these types of products is the wrong way to go about it,” Senior Vice President at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Rick Carfagna said. “We supported ‘tobacco 21,’ we believe in strict enforcement.”

‘Tobacco 21’ is a statewide law that raised the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21. The governor’s office said this new law will not impact tobacco 21, and local governments will still be able to enforce it.

But, a spokesperson for the Columbus City Attorney said that’s not fully true, in their interpretation of the law. They said the city currently operates a licensing regime for tobacco sellers and under the system, sellers must obtain a license. If they violate any city ordinances pertaining to the sale of tobacco products, the city can issue administrative fines and even revoke their license to sell tobacco products.

“If this override is allowed to stand, this system would also go away,” a spokesperson with the city attorney’s office said. “CPH would no longer be able to conduct compliance checks to ensure sellers aren’t selling to those under 21. Instead, enforcement for these offenses would have to be initiated by CPD/law enforcement, which would then bring a misdemeanor charge in these instances.”

Carfagna said asking businesses not to sell certain products won’t help kids but will only hurt business.

“Convenient stores stand to lose tens of thousands in profits,” he said. “That necessitates tens of thousands of dollars of sales that are then needed to offset those types of losses.”

DeWine said in Ohio, one in five children are vaping. He said 9% of middle schools vape regularly and that number more than doubles to 20% for high school students.

“85% of them are using flavors, the flavors are what are getting these kids addicted. So, if we can stop the flavors, very few of these kids will end up getting addicted… It may be 10 years, it may be 20 years, but if they’re addicted to nicotine and they continue to smoke, many of them are going to die early,” DeWine said.

But Carfagna said local bans are not the solution to the problem; he said the state should spend more on education and prevention.

“As a state we are only spending about 10.5% of what the CDC recommends when it comes to tobacco prevention dollars,” Carfagna said. “I am an advocate for more resources being spent to educate kids about health outcomes and to try to do everything that’s possible to dissuade them from using these products at an early age.”

DeWine said they can achieve uniformity easily when it comes to the sale of flavored products.

“I’ve made it very clear that we should have a statewide ban,” DeWine said. “We could have uniformity tomorrow by banning menthol and by banning flavors. If we do those two things, we are going to save thousands and thousands of lives in Ohio.”

Gov. DeWine’s office said if they could enact a statewide ban with executive rulemaking, they would have by now, but they do not have the authority. A spokesperson said they are continuing the discussion of a statewide ban with the legislature.

But Carfagna said a statewide ban might encourage black markets, or drive business to other states.

“You open another door of a whole other set of problems,” Carfagna said. “So, we want uniformity throughout the state and then it becomes a question if there’s uniformity throughout the country.”

The issue could also ultimately end up in court. Some Ohio cities said they are exploring their options to maintain home-rule authority in this area.

“I wouldn’t put it past any community to at least try and achieve a desired outcome in a courtroom,” Carfagna said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if it went to litigation.”

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