Tobacco.org

• Editorial: Clearing a Legal Haze 

A smoke-and-mirrors legal approach failed the tobacco companies yesterday in their latest attempt to shield themselves from private lawsuits. . . .

It often makes sense to avoid a hodgepodge of state and local rules governing big business in favor of uniform federal strictures. In those cases, the federal government should have exclusive jurisdiction in crafting and regulating the rules. But the tobacco companies in this case tried to stretch the federal Labeling Act to cover much more than Congress intended. They did so in an attempt to shield companies from lawsuits that even the FTC endorsed as a legitimate vehicle for the protection of consumers. The FTC and five justices came to the conclusion that tobacco companies can and should be held accountable if they deceptively advertised their products. The tobacco companies would be smart to finally come to grips with that.

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