A Delaware County vape retailer is now at the center of a legal fight that could decide how aggressively Ohio can police unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes. The Ohio Supreme Court is weighing whether state officials can use consumer-protection law to sue a shop accused of selling vapes that federal regulators have not cleared for the U.S. market.
The justices heard oral arguments Tuesday in the case involving Central Tobacco and Stuff, a Delaware County retailer. According to WOSU Public Media, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office argues the store violated the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act by selling unauthorized flavored e-cigarettes and failing to tell customers about their legal status.
The federal backdrop is doing much of the heavy lifting in the dispute. The FDA says only 45 e-cigarettes have received marketing authorization orders, and the products currently listed are tobacco- or menthol-flavored; unauthorized products cannot lawfully be sold in the United States.
The state says its lawsuit is about the act of selling, not about forcing a retailer to rewrite a manufacturer’s label. State prosecutor Samuel Peterson told WOSU that “the thing that is illegal is the sale,” while Central Tobacco attorney James Fraser argued Ohio is trying to enforce federal tobacco rules indirectly through the state consumer law.
The Case Has Already Survived One Appellate Fight
The case began with an Ohio Attorney General’s Office complaint filed on July 9, 2024. A Delaware County judge dismissed it later that year, and the Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal in October 2025, concluding that federal law preempted the state’s claims; one judge dissented and said the state was targeting sales rather than product labeling.
That lower-court ruling is the heart of the Supreme Court appeal. Central Tobacco says Ohio would need a specific statute banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, while the attorney general’s office says the Consumer Sales Practices Act already gives the state a path to challenge deceptive retail practices.
Ohio’s Vape Crackdown Is Moving On Two Tracks
The lawsuit is part of a broader push by Ohio officials. In a 2024 announcement, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office said Central Tobacco was one of three retailers sued after investigators found unauthorized flavored vapes still being offered following a warning letter.
At the same time, lawmakers are pursuing a more explicit legislative route. House Bill 849, introduced May 6 and referred to the House Public Safety Committee on May 13, would create new rules for the regulation, registration, licensing, inspection and enforcement of electronic smoking and vapor-product retailers, according to the Ohio Legislature; the proposed vape registry has already drawn attention as a possible way to treat unlisted products as contraband.
Legal Implications
In practical terms, a ruling for Ohio could preserve the attorney general’s ability to pursue retailers under the Consumer Sales Practices Act without waiting for a new flavored-vape ban. A ruling for Central Tobacco could force the state to seek clearer legislation, narrowing how Ohio can use consumer-protection law against products that are illegal under federal rules.
The justices’ decision will determine whether the state’s case proceeds and could shape the rules faced by vape retailers across Ohio. For now, the central question remains less about what a package says than whether a store can sell a product that federal regulators have not authorized at all.
