The city of Philadelphia can prohibit retailers from selling hollowed-out cigars known as "blunts" and intended to be stuffed with marijuana, a state court has ruled.

However, the Commonwealth Court rejected the city's ban on flavored cigarettes and a prohibition on sales of loose cigarettes, the Associated Press reported June 24.

The court said that the blunts could be banned because sellers should know that their purpose is facilitating use of illicit drugs. As for the other laws, Commonwealth Court Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt wrote that the ordinance errs by stating that a seller "can be held liable even if it does not know that the sale of a single cigarette or flavored cigar will result in the buyer using the tobacco product to inhale illegal drugs.

"By contrast, the [Pennsylvania] Controlled Substance Act exempts persons from liability who do not know, or cannot reasonably know, that the tobacco item being sold would be used by the buyer to ingest illegal drugs."

The court also said the city can ban sales of certain tobacco products within 500 feet of churches and schools.