Vape shops and tobacco retailers across Multnomah and Washington counties face what one industry leader calls an "existential" threat after the Oregon Supreme Court cleared the final legal barriers to flavored tobacco bans covering roughly one-third of all Oregonians.

The court on July 10 declined to review a challenge to Multnomah County's ban on flavored tobacco and synthetic nicotine products, leaving a 2025 Court of Appeals ruling intact.

That decision came two months after the same court unanimously upheld Washington County's Ordinance 878 in May, which bans flavored tobacco, nicotine products, discount coupons for those products, and sales from vehicles and vending machines.

Together, the two ordinances will prohibit the sale of flavored vapes, menthol cigarettes, and similar products in Oregon's two most populous counties.

"These bans are going to hurt tobacco or vaping stores that sell flavors, no question about it," Richard Burke, executive director of the 21+ Tobacco and Vapor Retail Association of Oregon, told OregonLive on Wednesday, July 16. "For some, it might be existential."

Burke said neither county has communicated how or when enforcement will begin. His organization is pushing alternatives such as restricting flavored tobacco sales to 21-and-over stores or requiring ID scanners rather than an outright ban.

He also warned that prohibition has "effectively granted a monopoly to the black market," where flavored products are often laced with more dangerous substances.

County says fall training is coming

Multnomah County health spokesperson Sarah Dean said the county hopes to begin a compliance support process for retailers in fall 2026, though the exact timeline depends on the court formally closing the case.

The county plans to hold both virtual and in-person training sessions and update its guidance materials.

Dean called the Supreme Court's decision "a huge step for public health in working to stop preventable deaths" and said the county will wait for the judicial process to conclude before enforcement begins.

Washington County has not provided a timeline update since a May 8 statement in which it said final procedural issues in circuit court would take "some weeks." The county did not respond to OregonLive's inquiry as of Wednesday, July 16.

Multnomah County's Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Thursday, December 15, 2022, to approve its ban, originally set to take effect January 1, 2024. The 21+ Tobacco and Vapor Retail Association, e-cigarette retailer No Moke Daddy LLC, and vape shop owner Paul Bates challenged the ordinance, triggering a legal fight that wound through circuit court, the Court of Appeals, and ultimately the state Supreme Court.

Washington County's ban followed a similar path. Commissioners passed Ordinance 878 in November 2021, and voters approved it in May 2022. A vape shop owner and a hookah cafe owner sued, arguing state licensing law preempted county regulation.

A trial court agreed, but the Court of Appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court's May 2026 ruling settled the matter.

What comes next

No specific enforcement start date has been confirmed for either county. Both have signaled that compliance support and retailer education will precede any penalties.

A statewide flavored tobacco ban bill, Oregon Senate Bill 702, died in committee in 2025, leaving the county-level ordinances as the broadest restrictions in the state.

Advocates have pushed for a similar statewide measure, but for now, Portland-area retailers are on their own to prepare.