What is the update on RJ Reynolds suing over New Tobacco Laws 2009?”
Winston-Salem, NC — R.J. Reynolds, seller of Camel cigarettes, and some other tobacco makers have filed a lawsuit saying their free-speech rights have been violated by a new tobacco law. The law gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco. It took effect in June. Reynolds says the act has several provisions restricting or banning truthful speech. Part of the FDA bill is designed to regulate the marketing of cigarettes. Reynolds says it seeks to protect its right to communicate with adult consumers. R.J. Reynolds is the nation’s second-biggest cigarette maker behind Philip Morris USA, which sells Marlboro cigarettes. Reynolds has opposed the bill for years as Philip Morris has supported it.
RICHMOND, Va. — Two of the three largest U.S. tobacco companies filed suit Monday to block marketing restrictions in a law that gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority over tobacco, claiming the provisions violate their right to free speech. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., maker of Camel cigarettes, and Lorillard Inc., which sells the Newport menthol brand, filed the federal lawsuit with several other tobacco companies. It is the first major challenge of the legislation passed and enacted in June, and a lawyer for tobacco consumers doubted the lawsuit will be successful. The tobacco makers claim provisions of the law “severely restrict the few remaining channels we have to communicate with adult tobacco consumers,” Martin L. Holton III, senior vice president and general counsel for Reynolds, said in a statement. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the FDA authority over tobacco for the first time and lets the agency reduce nicotine in tobacco products,
