The Oregon Court of Appeals has upheld a Washington County ordinance barring the sale of flavored tobacco products, in a ruling that could have ramifications for a similar ban in Multnomah County.

Wednesday’s ruling reversed a 2022 decision from Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Erwin, who said the county had the power to regulate how sales are made but that only the state had the authority to ban products completely.

Washington County officials applauded the latest decision.

“We are pleased to learn of the Oregon Court of Appeal’s unanimous ruling,” spokesperson Philip Bransford said in a statement. “In enacting the ordinance, Washington County had joined nearly 350 localities nationally and five states that have passed flavor bans in an attempt to prevent teens and young people from getting addicted to nicotine by starting with vape flavors like bubble gum, strawberry and tropical fruit fusion.”

The county’s battle over flavored tobacco dates to 2021 and Senate Bill 587, which imposed a license requirement on tobacco retailers and gave local public health agencies — cities or county governments — the power to regulate tobacco sales.

Later that year, Washington County commissioners passed the first ordinance in Oregon banning the sale of flavored tobacco products. It quickly drew opposition from tobacco retailers like Plaid Pantry, which forced the question onto the ballot in May 2022. An overwhelming majority of Washington County residents voted to keep the ban.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Tobacco retailers then took the case to Circuit Court, where Judge Erwin ruled that the restriction on flavored tobacco products was preempted by SB 587, and therefore could not be enforced. The appeals court reversed that decision.

A similar effort has unfolded in Multnomah County.

Multnomah County commissioners passed their own ban on flavored nicotine products in 2022. It was scheduled to go into effect this year, but tobacco retailers sued the county, arguing that the ban was illegal. A Circuit Court judge dismissed the complaint.

Separate from Washington County’s ban, Multnomah County’s ban then went to the Oregon Court of Appeals, which granted temporary relief to tobacco retailers in December. The stay was extended in February and remains in effect while the case is being litigated, according to court records.

Multnomah County commissioners have cited statistics that flavored tobacco products caused an increase in chronic tobacco use after a 25-year trend of decreasing cigarette sales. Eight out of 10 youths who use tobacco products started with flavored nicotine products, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Jamie Dunphy, a lobbyist with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Oregon who has closely followed these cases, said that Wednesday’s ruling will speed up the appeals court’s decision concerning Multnomah County. Dunphy said the outcome will likely be similar, despite what he described as substantive differences between the legal arguments of the two cases.

“They’re undeniably intertwined,” he said. “It will be almost impossible for the case against Multnomah County to move forward in any meaningful way now that the Washington County case has been overturned.”

Tony Aiello Jr., the attorney representing the tobacco retailers in Washington County, said they plan to bring the case to the Oregon Supreme Court. Aiello said in a statement that he and his clients found the decision “to conflict with itself in several places,” and that he was confident the state Supreme Court would reach a different conclusion.

Opponents to the ban have argued that there are more constructive approaches to curbing nicotine use among youths that will have less of an economic impact on retailers.

“My clients and the 21+ Tobacco and Vapor Retail Association of Oregon intend to continue their attempts to work with state and local governments to enact policies that actually decrease youth access to these products,” Aiello wrote.

State legislators were considering a statewide ban on the sale of flavored nicotine products last year. House Bill 3090 was headed to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means, but it died before the legislative session ended in June.

The appeals court ruling drew the approval of local health organizations and groups trying to curb the use of tobacco among children.

“Today’s decision is a win for the health of Oregon kids,” Christina Bodamer, a representative with the American Heart Association, said in a statement from Flavors Hook Oregon Kids.