• Winston-Salem Journal, Tuesday, September 1, 2009 10:43 AM

R.J. Reynolds, Conwood Co. LLC, and others filed a lawsuit against the federal government in federal court in Bowling Green, Ky., over cigarette and smokeless tobacco companies' "First Amendment right to communicate with adult tobacco consumers about their products," Richard Craver reports. The companies charge that a new law giving the FDA the right to regulate tobacco products "adds layer upon layer of additional restrictions" to already onerous regulations, "thereby virtually eliminating the remaining few avenues for protected speech."

The FDA was granted the power to regulate the content of tobacco products in June, including removing ingredients considered as hazardous; restricting the marketing and distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco; focusing on limiting the impact of advertising on youth; expanding warning labels; and stopping the use of such characterizations as "light" or "low tar."

Martin Holton III, the general counsel for Reynolds, stresses that the lawsuit "does not challenge Congress' decision to give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco products, nor does it challenge the vast majority of the provisions of the new law."

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