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The affluent suburb of Edina banned the sale of flavored tobacco, but R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco giants argue it overstepped its bounds.
This May 17, 2018 file photo shows packs of menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products at a store. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
(CN) The tobacco industry went to bat against a Minneapolis suburb before the Eighth Circuit Wednesday afternoon, arguing that the city of Edina’s ban on flavored tobacco products like menthol cigarettes is preempted by federal law.
Edina, a wealthy suburb of about 52,000 people southwest of Minneapolis, enacted a ban on tobacco products with flavors other than tobacco in June of 2020, and was quickly sued by two convenience stores in the city and by tobacco giants, including the R.J. Reynolds Company. The businesses argued that Edina whose name, pronounced Ee-dye-nuh and sometimes uh-dye-nuh by locals, was butchered several times throughout the hearing had exceeded its authority under the federal Tobacco Cont