Delivering a significant victory for public health, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today upheld most provisions of the new law giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the power to regulate tobacco products (pdf), including the requirement for large, graphic warnings on cigarette packs.
This ruling affirms the authority of the FDA to take critical action to prevent the tobacco industry from continuing to target our children and mislead the American public. It marks the second time the FDA law has been broadly upheld.
Importantly, the court majority found that the law's requirement for large, graphic cigarette warning labels "are reasonably related to the government's interest in preventing consumer deception and are therefore constitutional."
The court found that the warnings "do not impose any restriction on Plaintiff's dissemination of speech, nor do they touch on Plaintiffs' core speech. Instead, the labels serve as disclaimers to the public regarding the incontestable health consequences of using tobacco."
Source: The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
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