Ohio’s flavor-ban fight, explained
Columbus banned flavored tobacco. The state banned the ban. Three courts later, the case sits with the Ohio Supreme Court.
How it started
In December 2022 Columbus passed an ordinance banning the sale of flavored tobacco products and setting up civil penalties. Two days later the Ohio legislature passed a law prohibiting local regulation of tobacco products. [1]
Governor DeWine used a line-item veto to strip the preemption language in January 2024. Both houses quickly overrode him. [2]
The lawsuits
Twenty-one municipalities, including Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Kent, sued under the home-rule provision of the Ohio Constitution. In May 2024 Franklin County Judge Mark Serrott ruled the state law unconstitutional, and in July 2025 the Tenth District Court of Appeals unanimously agreed. [2][3]
The state appealed again. The Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments in June 2026 and, as of August 2026 reporting, had not yet ruled. [4]
Why a recycler cares
U.S. PIRG’s 2025 Vape Waste report argues that state-level flavor bans have proven effective at curbing the environmental and safety dangers of disposable vapes. [5]
No Mahoning Valley city is among the plaintiffs. Whatever the court decides, the devices already sold here still need somewhere to go.