Philadelphia Bill No. 060345, colloquially known as the Philadelphia blunt ban, was an ordinance in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

which banned the retail sale of cigarettes or cigars sold one or two at a time,

rolling paper Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardbo ...

s, flavored

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

products, and drug consumption and packaging paraphernalia such as water pipes, roach clips, and bongs. It was an amendment to Chapter 9-600, the "Service Businesses" section, of the Philadelphia Code. It has since been overturned by court decree.

Passage

The ban was the result of a campaign by Philadelphia police officer and community activist Jerry Rocks, Sr. Rocks's campaign, begun in October 2005, sought to restrict or prohibit

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

s from selling the types of items eventually covered by the ordinance. Rocks targeted his campaign particularly at

Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware state law and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dating back to 1886, the company has transformed from a vertically integrated energy ...

and Wawa Food Markets. Councilman

Brian J. O'Neill Brian J. O'Neill (born December 23, 1949) is a Republican Councilman representing the Tenth District on the City Council of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has served since 1980. Biography Early life Brian J. O’Neill was born in Philadelphia, ...

sponsored the bill, introducing it into the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

in May 2006. It was passed unanimously by the Council and signed into law by Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street on January 23, 2007, with immediate effect.

Invalidation

In 2008, the Commonwealth Court held that the ban was partially preempted by the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, 35 Pa. Stat. Ann. §§ 780-101-780-144. On January 19, 2011, in ''Holt's Cigar Co. v. Solvibile'', the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...

reversed the Commonwealth Court's decision in part, holding that the entirety of the ban was preempted by the Controlled Substance Act.

Passage

Invalidation

References

Further reading