Tobacco Companies Sue for the Right to Tell the "Truth"

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The type of graphic, top-half-of-the-pack health warning used in Thailand, that companies oppose in the U.S.

Retired U.S. Federal District Court Judge H. Lee Sarokin, who presided over the case of Rose Defrancesco Cipollone, the first lawsuit against a tobacco company ever to result in a damage award to a plaintiff, points out the irony of R.J. Reynolds and other large U.S. cigarette makers suing to stop a federal law that prevents them from using misleading terms like "light" and "mild," and that forces them to print highly visible, pictorial health warnings on the top halves of their packages. Tobacco companies oppose the provision by saying they have a right to communicate "truthful" information about their products to adults, who have the right to receive such information. Sarokin writes, "Limits on free speech in the commercial world must be narrowly construed and directly advance a substantial government interest. Those limits should be imposed with great hesitancy, but if ever an industry deserves them based upon prior conduct, it is the tobacco industry."