Court Blocks Cigarette Warnings

The battle never ends. The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a previous ruling Friday that the federal government can’t require tobacco companies to include its newly released graphic health warnings on their packaging. In a 2-1 decision, Big Tobacco prevailed with the argument that the warnings went beyond simply providing facts and violate tobacco companies’ First Amendment’s rights. The court wrote that the case challenged the government authority to make “every single pack of cigarettes in the country [a] ‘mini billboard’ for the government’s anti-smoking message,” adding, “There’s not a shred of evidence” the graphic labels reduce smoking.