Following a late Monday ruling by a U.S. District judge, Utah’s Electronic Cigarettes Amendments bill, signed into law last March, can finally be enacted.
The primary purpose of the bill is to reduce the number of minors using and becoming addicted to e-cigarettes — the most used tobacco product by teens, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noting the appeal for younger people stems from the wide range of flavors topped by social pressures.
After the bill passed in 2024, the Utah Vapor Business Association and The Smoke House filed a joint lawsuit against the state, seeking an injunction on the legislation. Judge David Barlow granted the request in part. The bill bans the sale of tobacco products the Food and Drug Administration has not approved or is still pending approval. It also bans all sales of flavored e-cigarettes.
But, in Monday’s ruling, Barlow said the bill could still achieve its purpose without keeping the inspection program. Under the bill, the inspection program would have allowed state health departments to review at random.
According to Barlow, it “says nothing about the frequency of any such inspections. It does not say that they are to occur on a temporal basis, like annually or quarterly. It does not even say that they are to occur regularly. It simply says they ‘may’ occur. In short, the Inspection Program seemingly leaves it in inspectors’ hands entirely as to whether any inspections occur.”
The plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit that the program violated their Fourth Amendment right by mirroring an unreasonable search and potential seizure of their products.
Barlow pointed out that the Legislature would have passed the bill regardless of whether an inspection program was in place, adding that “these provisions are operable without the Inspection Program, as they provide a comprehensive program for regulating electronic cigarettes and punishing retailers that sell banned products.”
Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in a statement that he was “thrilled” by the judge’s ruling.
“Utah will now be able to better protect children from the harms of tobacco,” he said. “Our attorneys have worked tirelessly on this case to defend Utah’s law, and I am confident their advocacy moving forward will continue to be excellent. Their work is crucial in preventing kids from getting hooked on nicotine.”