Did Portland ban the sale of menthol tobacco? | Fact brief

The city of Portland banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol, in 2022. 

The Portland City Council unanimously passed an ordinance in February 2022 that took effect later that year. The ban includes any flavored natural or synthetic tobacco or nicotine products, such as flavored cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff.

Other Maine cities and towns have followed suit since then, including Brunswick in April 2022, Bangor in July 2022 and South Portland in December 2022. 

South Portland adopted a partial ban that excluded “menthol, mint or wintergreen” flavors in May 2019.

The Maine State Senate in 2023 narrowly approved a bill that would have banned all flavored tobacco products statewide. But the bill, L.D. 1215, stalled without a vote in the House the following year.