Legal

State

Tobacco cos. win temporary reprieve from NYC coupon ban (NY) – Law360.com. A federal judge ruled that New York City cannot enforce a prohibition on cigarette discounts or coupons for at least two months, in a lawsuit brought by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and other manufacturers and groups trying to invalidate the ban. The companies are not challenging another part of the city’s new ordinance that puts a price floor of $10.50 on cigarette packs. The judge’s order also covers the price floor, however, so the city cannot enforce the price floor until May 23 or the health department issues the rules, whichever is later.

Fight over tobacco settlement money could cost Pennsylvania millions (PA) – Reuters. Lawyers for the state of Pennsylvania asked a judge on Friday to throw out an arbitration ruling that could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. A September 2013 arbitration ruling found that six states - including Pennsylvania - failed to "diligently enforce" its law to stop companies that declined to settle from gaining an economic advantage over their competitors.

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