Lawsuit takes aim at Moorhead’s ban on flavored tobacco, vaping products – INFORUM

MOORHEAD A shop that sells vaping products is suing the city of Moorhead over an ordinance passed last fall banning the sale of flavored vaping products.

The suit filed by Northland Vapor Co. claims the ordinance violates the Minnesota Constitution because it is not rationally related to a legitimate government goal; it is too vague; and it constitutes an improper government "taking."

The company is seeking an injunction to keep the law from going into effect or being enforced by the city, or, in the alternative, that the city compensate the business for a regulatory taking.

In October, the Moorhead City Council voted 7-1 to ban all flavored tobacco products, as well as flavored vaping products, from licensed stores in the city starting Jan. 1.

The ordinance also brought the city into compliance with federal law by raising the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21.

A Clay County District Court judge in December imposed a stay that prevents the ordinance from being enforced until the company's request for an injunction is heard, which could happen in March.

The City Council met in a closed-door session Monday evening, Jan. 24, to talk about the status of the pending litigation.

Northland Vapor, which employs about 25 people, is located at 115 8th St. S. in Moorhead.

According to the suit, the vast majority of Northland's business is the sale of flavored vape products and the shop keeps an inventory valued at more than $100,000.

Before the council passed the ban, council members heard from a long list of individuals in support of the move, including retired teacher Dee Pretty, who had eight other former teachers stand with her when she addressed the council regarding a ban.

Pretty noted how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nicotine harms an adolescent brain up to age 25 by affecting attention span, learning ability and impulse control, and she added that four out of five young people who use tobacco products start their habit by using flavored products.

Council member Matt Gilbertson, who cast the lone vote against the ban, said during council debate on the question that "You can't regulate behavior. ... Prohibition didn't work, and this won't, either."

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Lawsuit takes aim at Moorhead's ban on flavored tobacco, vaping products - INFORUM