Tobacco industry applauds court decision
The tobacco industry on Thursday applauded a U.S. District Court ruling in Tacoma that struck down a Washington state law that prohibited handing out free cigarettes in bars and nightclubs.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. lawyers, who sued state Attorney General Rob McKenna and members of the Washington State Liquor Control Board, said the state law, which took effect on June 7, violated the First Amendment and was unconstitutional.
"The new law was simply an unconstitutional attempt to prevent us from using an accepted form of product promotion to adult smokers," said Darryl Marsch, senior counsel for R.J. Reynolds, in a statement.
In his Aug. 24 decision, U.S. District Judge Franklin Burgess wrote, "The state ban on the distribution of cigarettes to members of the general public at no cost or at nominal cost for product promotion purposes is a state regulation of the promotion of cigarettes and thus, pre-empted by the (Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act)."
R.J. Reynolds is an indirect subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) of Winston-Salem, N.C.
