According to a report by the SF Examiner on December 6th, attorneys in San Francisco have filed lawsuits against three online retailers for illegally selling flavored e-cigarettes and tobacco products in the city.
David Chiu, an attorney from San Francisco, stated in a press conference on Tuesday that three companies, Gashiro Technology LLC, DaSmokey LLC, and Millennial One Inc., are facing legal action for violating California state laws by selling flavored tobacco products and flavored e-cigarette products to consumers through online channels.
In 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a widely popular law that prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products.
Qu stated, "We are filing this lawsuit in order to send a clear message to tobacco retailers that their products cannot be sold in San Francisco."
Mr. Qiu stated that his office has placed orders and obtained disposable e-cigarettes in fruit and dessert flavors from these three sellers, targeting young people. The city attorney added that these companies have violated the law by shipping these products to San Francisco.
The three companies accused in the lawsuit have not explicitly stated on their websites that they will not deliver their products to places like California, where the sale of flavored products is prohibited.
In 2017, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors became the first city in the country to ban the sale of flavored products such as menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes. The ban was reaffirmed by the citizens through a vote in June of the following year and took effect one month later.
In 2020, legislators in California followed in the footsteps of San Francisco, as mere hours after the bill was passed in August of that year, it was signed into law in Nutham.
This state law has been a subject of intense debate among vested companies. Tobacco companies R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris, and ITG Brands backed a ballot measure for 2022 in an attempt to overturn this legislation, but the Supreme Court has made a ruling against it.
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