Current:Home > MyKentucky judge dismisses lawsuit challenging a new law to restrict the sale of vaping products -WealthMindset Learning
Kentucky judge dismisses lawsuit challenging a new law to restrict the sale of vaping products
View
Date:2025-04-19 02:00:40
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A measure passed by Kentucky lawmakers to restrict the sale of vaping products has been upheld by a judge who dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the new law was constitutionally flawed.
The action by lawmakers amounted to a “legitimate state interest” and was “well within the scope of the General Assembly’s police power over the health and safety” of Kentucky citizens, Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate said in his ruling Monday.
Under the measure, vaping products not granted authorization by the Food and Drug Administration would be kept out of Kentucky stores in what supporters have promoted as an effort to reduce youth vaping. It would have no impact on FDA-authorized products or those that come under the FDA’s safe harbor rules, supporters have said.
The measure won passage this year in the state’s Republican supermajority legislature and was signed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. The law takes effect at the start of 2025.
Opponents including vape retailers immediately filed the lawsuit challenging the legislation. During the legislative session, lawmakers opposing the measure called it an example of government overreach. Vape retailers warned the restrictions would jeopardize their businesses.
The suit claimed the measure was unconstitutionally arbitrary, an argument rejected by the judge. Wingate sided with arguments from the law’s defenders, who said the regulation of vaping products is a proper subject for legislative action since it deals with the health and safety of Kentuckians.
“The sale of nicotine and vapor products are highly regulated in every state, and the Court will not question the specific reasons for the General Assembly’s decision to regulate and limit the sale of nicotine and vapor products,” the judge said.
“The regulation of these products directly relates to the health and safety of the Commonwealth’s citizens, the power of which is vested by the Kentucky Constitution in the General Assembly,” he added.
Plaintiffs also claimed the measure violated a state constitutional provision limiting legislation to only the subject expressed in its title. They said the title dealt with nicotine-only products while the legislation contained references to products of “other substances.” In rejecting that argument, the judge said the title “more than furnishes a clue to its contents and provides a general idea of the bill’s contents.”
Republican state Rep. Rebecca Raymer has said she filed the measure in response to the state’s “vaping epidemic” and, in particular, complaints about how rampant vaping has become in schools. In a release Tuesday, Raymer said she was pleased with the ruling.
“If a product can’t get authorized or doesn’t fall under the FDA’s safe harbor rules, we don’t know if the ingredients are safe, where they’re from or what impact they will have on a user’s health,” she said.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office defended the measure. The ruling reaffirmed that the legislature is empowered to make laws protecting Kentuckians’ health, Coleman said Tuesday.
A group representing Kentucky vape retailers did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
veryGood! (17)
Related
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Author A.S. Byatt, who wrote the best-seller 'Possession,' dies at 87
- Investigators identify ‘person of interest’ in Los Angeles freeway arson fire
- Taylor Swift Postpones Second Brazil Concert Due to Extreme Temperatures and After Fan's Death
- Hidden Home Gems From Kohl's That Will Give Your Space a Stylish Refresh for Less
- Florida State QB Jordan Travis out with leg injury, No. 4 Seminoles rout North Alabama 58-13
- K-12 schools improve protection against online attacks, but many are vulnerable to ransomware gangs
- Baltimore police fired 36 shots at armed man, bodycam recordings show
- NCAA hands former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh a 4-year show cause order for recruiting violations
- Russian drones target Kyiv as UK Defense Ministry says little chance of front-line change
Ranking
- Michigan lawmaker who was arrested in June loses reelection bid in Republican primary
- Maldives new president makes an official request to India to withdraw military personnel
- Albania’s former health minister accused by prosecutors of corruption in government project
- Eagles release 51-year-old former player nearly 30 years after his final game
- Connie Chiume, South African 'Black Panther' actress, dies at 72
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Cassie settle bombshell lawsuit alleging rape, abuse, sex trafficking
- A Canadian security forum announces it will award the people of Israel for public service leadership
- No turkey needed: How to make a vegetarian Thanksgiving spread, including the main dish
Recommendation
New Orleans mayor’s former bodyguard making first court appearance after July indictment
Inside the Surreal Final Months of Princess Diana's Life
75 'hidden gem' cities for snowbirds looking to escape winter weather and crowds
The Vatican broadens public access to an ancient Roman necropolis
Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
Blackpink's Rosé opens up about mental health, feeling 'loneliness' from criticism
Maldives new president makes an official request to India to withdraw military personnel
'It felt like a movie': Chiefs-Rams scoring outburst still holds indelible place in NFL history