ITG Cigars, Others Argue to Keep Cigar Flavors in Philadelphia

Cigar makers ITG Cigars Inc., Swedish Match North America LLC, and Swisher International Inc. may continue to sell flavored tobacco products in Philadelphia because a local ordinance banning such products runs afoul of Pennsylvania state law, the companies told the Third Circuit.

A lower court correctly stopped the city from enforcing the ban on grounds that the legislature expressly preempted the local regulations that “concern youth access to tobacco,” the companies said in an April 2 brief.

The Philadelphia ordinance bans sales of flavored tobacco products to all purchasers, not just minors, according to the lower court’s decision. But ...