Big Tobacco Suffers Big Setbacks in DC

Critics say 'Marlboro Gold' no better than 'Marlboro Light,' and sneakier

(NEWSER) - The tobacco industry has to remove words like “light” on its cigarette packaging come June, but what they plan to do instead—use colors—has health advocates just as piqued. “They’re circumventing the law,” a professor tells the New York Times of moves like Philip Morris’ plan to change Marlboro Lights to Marlboro Gold. Just like “light” monikers, color-coding implies some types are safer than others, he says, and will “perpetuate one of the biggest public health myths into the next century.” More»

(NEWSER) - Tobacco companies engaged in “deceits” and knowingly marketed cigarettes without regard for consumers’ health, violating civil racketeering laws, a federal appeals court ruled today. In upholding the verdict in a landmark case brought by the Clinton Justice Department in 1999, the court refused to overturn a district judge’s order that the companies, including Altria and Philip Morris, stop using such marketing terms as “low tar” and “light,” the Washington Post reports. More»

Big Tobacco wins a round in court over proposed warnings

(NEWSER) - Tobacco companies can't be forced to put ultra-graphic images on cigarette packages and advertising to scare away smokers, a federal judge ruled today. The FDA requirement, which was supposed to go into effect later this year, violates the companies' free-speech rights, declared US District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, reports BusinessWeek . The feds are expected to appeal, adds Reuters . More»

A dozen vehicles, 60 people involved in massive pile-up on Tenn. highway

(NEWSER) - A snowstorm yesterday stunned a swath of southern states, where it triggered massive traffic accidents and snuffed out power. Parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia were battling the flakes, reports AP . Some 52,000 Appalachian Power customers were without power last night, and 350 car accidents were reported in Virginia alone. A dozen vehicles, including eight tractor-trailers and a Greyhound bus, were in a massive chain reaction pile-up on Interstate 75 in Tennessee near the Kentucky state line. Some 60 people were involved, and five were so seriously injured that they had to be airlifted from the scene, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel . Weather is expected to begin a return to more seasonal conditions today, and temperatures could be as high as the 60s in Virginia later this week, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch . More»

Big Tobacco was likely to win First Amendment complaint

(NEWSER) - Wheeze out a sigh of relief, smokers of America: You won't have to look at a blackened lung or rotting teeth when you buy a pack of smokes next year after all. US District Judge Richard Leon blocked the new labels today, ruling that tobacco companies were likely to win their lawsuit claiming that they violated their First Amendment rights. Leon had previously held a hearing over the question of whether the graphic labels simply conveyed the facts about cigarettes' health risk, or constituted outright anti-smoking advocacy, the AP reports. More»