Oregon Court of Appeals Temporarily Blocks Multnomah County’s Flavored Tobacco Ban

The Oregon Court of Appeals has issued a temporary stay on the implementation of a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco in Multnomah County slated to go into effect Jan. 1.

The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners in passed an ordinance in December 2022 prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products used for vaping and hookahs. The commissioners acted on the belief that flavored tobacco promotes use among young people and also disproportionately harms people of color.

Companies that sell flavored tobacco sued in Multnomah County Circuit Court earlier this year, challenging the county’s authority to enforce the ordinance. The court ruled in Multnomah County’s favor, which allowed the county to move forward with the ban starting on the first day of 2024.

But the tobacco sellers, led by the 21+ Tobacco and Vapor Retail Association of Oregon, the company No Moke Daddy LLC and a man named Paul Bates, appealed the trial court decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. That court operates with an extensive backlog and would not have ruled on the appeal before the ban went into effect next week. The affected companies argued they would be irreparably harmed if that happened.

In a Dec. 28 order signed by Appellate Commissioner Theresa Kidd, the court agreed, writing, “The request for immediate and temporary relief is granted, and respondent may not enforce [the ban] temporarily, pending respondent having the opportunity to respond to the appellants’ motion, appellants having the opportunity to reply, and the court considering the parties’ filings and rendering a decision on the motion.”