Tobacco.org

Science vs. Politics  

s the legislation that will bestow the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) with unprecedented authority to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products awaits President Obama's signature, Congress can expect a volley of litigation from the bill in at least one area: marketing and advertising restrictions.

"The marketing and advertising restrictions...will be subject to various forms of litigation by various parties," said Tommy Payne, executive vice president of public affairs for Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), during a Credit Suisse tobacco regulation conference call yesterday. "I'm aware that the Association of National Advertisers, the ACLU and the Washington Legal Foundation all intend to file their version of that litigation in fairly short order after signature by the president."

And don't count out RAI itself, either. "It is our intent to challenge some of those provisions," Payne said. "But we're also looking at, Are there other provisions in the bill that may be subject to legitimate litigation claims? We have not come to a conclusion on that yet."

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