A federal judge has struck down a New York City law that would have required vendors of cigarettes to plaster around their stores graphic images of the damage wrought by smoking.
As The New York Times reports, while the judge expressed sympathy for the law’s intent, he made the ruling on the justification that only the federal government is permitted to regulate tobacco advertising.
“Even merchants of morbidity are entitled to the full protection of the law, for our sake as well as theirs,” Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote in his opinion.
The New York City health department established the rule in late 2009, which required posters with pictures of decaying lungs, teeth and brains in convenience stores, and it was to go into effect this weekend. In response, the New York State Association of Convenience Stores and tobacco giants Philip Morris, Lorillard and R. J. Reynolds brought the suit that resulted in Rakoff’s decision.
“[The decision] will allow the retail stores in New York to be freed of the obligation to put signs up urging customers not to buy their lawful products,” said Floyd Abrams, a famous First Amendment lawyer who represented the Association of Convenience Stores.
City officials expressed disappointment with the decision, and said that they planned to appeal.
“The city’s warning signs portray completely factual messages about the dangers of smoking,” said a statement from the health department. “We believe it is the city’s responsibility to help smokers quit and to protect children from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke.”
In his opinion, Rakoff noted that 7,500 people die from smoking-related ailments each year in New York City, ending more lives than AIDS, homicide, and suicide combined.
Elsewhere, however, the push to expand warnings against the hazards of smoking pushed forward. The Canadian government announced on Thursday that it will place larger and more graphic warning labels on packs of cigarettes, although no date was set for implementation. The new warnings will cover three-quarters of the front and back of cigarette packs, up from one-half.
“Canadian and international research has shown that to be effective, health warnings must be noticeable and memorable.” Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told Reuters.
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This is very unfortunate, since the people that are most likely to look at these pictures and be deterred, younger children, will no longer see these images.