Big tobacco tries to stop California flavored tobacco ban
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO (AP) — R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to impose an emergency order stopping a California ban on flavored tobacco products from taking effect. The companies filed the request Tuesday. Nearly two-thirds of California voters earlier this month approved of the ban on cotton-candy vaping juice, methanol cigarettes and other products. The state legislature passed the law two years ago but it never took effect after tobacco companies gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot. Supporters of the ban say the law was necessary to put a stop to a staggering rise in teen smoking.