A voter-approved flavored tobacco ban in Washington County, Ore., has not yet gone into effect after a judge issued the ban, saying the county is not prepared to enforce the ban anyway.

County health officials say that's not the case. But they admit they must now allow sales of flavoured products to go ahead.

It's just the latest in a series of setbacks in the county's first ban on flavored tobacco products, Oregon Live reported.

The original ban was implemented by the Washington County Commission in November 2021 and is scheduled to begin in January.

But opponents of the ban, spearheaded by Plaid Pantry CEO Jonathan Polonsky, gathered enough signatures to put them on the ballot for voters to decide in May.

However, opponents have stopped campaigning to represent their own measure, realizing that ballot language would confuse many voters about what a "yes" vote really means.

Meanwhile, supporters of the ban spent more than $1 million defending it, and Washington County voters overwhelmingly chose to keep the ban.

In February, before that vote, several Washington County businesses filed lawsuits challenging the ordinance. Serenity Vapors, King's Hookah Lounge and Torched Illusions, represented by attorney Tony Aiello, argue in the lawsuit that they are legitimate businesses that will be unfairly harmed by the county's ordinance.

Last week, Washington County Circuit Judge Andrew Irwin agreed to suspend the pending injunction. According to Irving, the county's argument for keeping the ban in place while the law is challenged is not "convincing" because he said the county's attorneys have said there are zero plans to enforce the ban "for the foreseeable future."

On the other hand, Owen reasoned that if the law was followed, businesses would be "imminently and irreparably harmed."

Owen wrote in the injunction: "Defendants argue that the public's interest in Act 878 is overwhelmingly higher than that of plaintiffs." But the defendants admitted they had no plans to advance the public interest as they did not expect to enforce the ordinance in the foreseeable future.

Proponents of the ban argue that the logic is a bit circular — the ban did not go into effect until June 13, and enforcement agencies are not yet in place.

County health spokeswoman Mary Sawyer explained: "Enforcement will begin with the state's review of tobacco retail licensing laws. The state inspects businesses every year to make sure they have licenses and comply with new state laws, and if inspectors find businesses in Washington County that are selling flavored products, they will notify us.

After the county government is notified, it will first educate businesses about the flavored product laws, and will issue fines only if businesses fail to comply.

"None of this has happened," Sawyer said, "because the state just started inspections this summer, and they haven't recommended any businesses to us."

The county has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. But as of now, Washington County has flavored tobacco and vaping products.

Jordan Schwartz is the owner of Serenity Vapors, one of the plaintiffs in the case, which has three Washington County branches. Schwartz claims his company has helped thousands of people quit smoking.

Now, he said, customers come in and tell him, "I think I'm going to go back to cigarettes. That's what they're forcing us to do."

According to Schwartz, Serenity Vapors primarily sells e-liquids.

"Eighty percent of our business comes from some kind of flavored product," he said.