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    Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

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    WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

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    Pittsburg uses new construction process to build a new type of water storage tank

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    Pitching ace Kemp uses bat to send Lady Cols to state again

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    Executive director says this year’s arts alliance lineup gives people what they want

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    2000 baseball Cols remember fondly state championship season a quarter century later

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    Summer Sunset Series, SummerFest ratchet up Henderson festival season this week

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    HCHS grad Tyler Brocato currently competing in a national chef competition

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    Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

    Thomason’s plans growth and with it, a broader distribution of its famous baked beans

    BRIEFS: HCPL hosts Veterans Resource Fair; City High class of ’75 reunion; HPD wants help finding car thieves

    WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

    WEHT/WTVW employees rally for their union

    Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

    Good News: Habitat breaks ground on another build; future owner ‘overwhelmed with joy’

    Pittsburg uses new construction process to build a new type of water storage tank

    Pittsburg uses new construction process to build a new type of water storage tank

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    Pitching ace Kemp uses bat to send Lady Cols to state again

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    Blazing-fast broadband services now available to the majority of homes in the city and county

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    HMP&L signs initial agreement to build a battery energy storage system on South Green Street

    In some parts of the U.S., the grid of the future might be closer than you think

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    Henderson joins West Kentucky Film Commission with hopes of luring movie makers here

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    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    Executive director says this year’s arts alliance lineup gives people what they want

    Executive director says this year’s arts alliance lineup gives people what they want

    2000 baseball Cols remember fondly state championship season a quarter century later

    2000 baseball Cols remember fondly state championship season a quarter century later

    Summer Sunset Series, SummerFest ratchet up Henderson festival season this week

    Summer Sunset Series, SummerFest ratchet up Henderson festival season this week

    May the summer blockbuster season begin!

    May the summer blockbuster season begin!

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    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    The Gnomes of Audubon Forest, a Henderson Tourist Commission initiative, is a scavenger hunt for all ages

    No Kentucky Home, Part 4: A missing bench comes to symbolize missing solutions to homelessness

    No Kentucky Home, Part 3: A church called its vision for housing a ‘Beacon of Hope.’ The mayor had concerns.

    No Kentucky Home, Part 2: After living outdoors for weeks, she got a place to sleep, a shower — and a job

    HCHS grad Tyler Brocato currently competing in a national chef competition

    HCHS grad Tyler Brocato currently competing in a national chef competition

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Kentucky’s new anti-vaping law ignites constitutional challenge

Sarah Ladd by Sarah Ladd
April 16, 2024
in News, Politics, State
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Vape retailers, hemp association file suit in Franklin Circuit Court

Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern

Four vape shops, the Kentucky Vaping Retailers Association and the Kentucky Hemp Association have filed suit in Franklin Circuit Court seeking to strike down a new state law outlawing the sale of some of their products. 

Greg Troutman, a lawyer for the Kentucky Smoke Free Association, which represents vape retailers, said he’s “hoping that we can get a resolution to this well before” the law is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. 

“Basically, what we’re asking for is that HB 11 be thrown out, because it’s unconstitutional,” Troutman told the Lantern. 

The lawsuit, which was filed Friday, argues that House Bill 11’s definitions of “vapor products” and “other substances” loop e-cigarettes and vapable hemp and marijuana products together, making it too broad and arbitrary to pass constitutional muster.

It also violates due process by requiring retailers to comply with a nonexistent regulatory process for hemp and other non-nicotine products, Troutman said.

Retailers will be subject to fines and penalties for selling vapable hemp-derived products once the law takes effect, the lawsuit says. 

HB 11’s backers tout the bill as a way to curb underage vaping by limiting sales to “authorized products” or those that have “a safe harbor certification” based on their status with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

The bill was backed by Altria, the country’s largest manufacturer of cigarettes which also markets FDA-approved vape products. Altria has spent more than $500,000 lobbying the Kentucky legislature since January 2022, according to records filed with the Legislative Ethics Commission.

The suit alleges the new law would prohibit products that cannot win FDA approval because the FDA has no regulatory process for them, such as those containing amanita muscaria (a mushroom) and hemp-derived products. The law would also apply to vapeable marijuana products set to become available in Kentucky 2025 under a law the legislature passed last year, the lawsuit says. 

“Unless the manufacturers are making a therapeutic claim — that is, they’re intended to cure, treat, mitigate disease — they’re not subject to an FDA regulatory process,” Troutman said. “So how can you condition market approval in Kentucky upon complying with a nonexistent process? That is absolutely Kafkaesque.”

The U.S. Congress in 2009 enacted the Tobacco Control Act, requiring the FDA to regulate tobacco products to “protect the public health of the U.S. population and create a healthier future.” The FDA began regulating “electronic nicotine delivery systems” — e-cigarettes — under that authority in 2016.  

The suit also alleges the new law violates a provision in the state Constitution limiting laws to one subject. HB 11 is titled an “Act relating to nicotine products” but applies to non-nicotine vaping products such as those derived from hemp, the lawsuit says.

The defendants are Allyson Taylor, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Secretary of State Michael Adams.

In the final days of the session, lawmakers merged HB 11 with Senate Bill 344, which created an e-cigarette registry. The combined bill was signed into law by Gov. Andy Beshear on April 5. Some advocates fear the new law could force more people back to traditional cigarettes, which are worse for bodily health than vaping. 

Vape store owners also testified the law could create a monopoly for big retailers and hurt small businesses. 

A spokeswoman for the House GOP said Tuesday while she could not comment on pending litigation, she believes “the legislature’s efforts to keep potentially dangerous e-cigarettes out of the hands of our children will stand the test.” 

Tobacco use can lead to all sorts of health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They include cancer, diabetes, heart disease and more. Nicotine is the addictive chemical in tobacco and can harm the developing brain, the CDC says.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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