Legal

National

Tobacco Control Legal Consortium Legal Update, Summer 2008
The TCLC’s newsletter updates readers on the latest happenings in tobacco control law. Topics of this edition include the proposed legislation to give the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco, major tobacco lawsuits (including the “light” cigarette case), the legality of bars’ “theater nights” that challenge smokefree laws, smokefree car legislation worldwide, and Pennsylvania’s smokefree law. The newsletter also features the TCLC’s latest publication, Workplace Smoking: Options for Employees and Legal Rights for Employers. Click here to download a PDF of the newsletter.

Washington State’s indoor smoking ban upheld by state Supreme Court (WA)
The Washington State Supreme Court ruled this month that the state’s indoor smoking ban clearly prohibits smoking in all workplaces – including private clubs. In a 5-4 decision, the majority said the law, created when voters overwhelming approved Initiative 901 in 2005, applies to all places of employment, whether they are privately owned or open to the public. Initiative 901 prohibited smoking in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, minicasinos, most hotel rooms and most other non-tribal businesses that had been exempted by the state’s previous indoor smoking law, which already banned smoking in most public places. American Legion Post 149 in Bremerton sued the state and Kitsap County after it was ordered in 2006 to ban smoking or face prosecution. The Washington State Office of the Attorney General stated: “The Court also affirmed that the ‘place of employment’ smoking prohibition did not violate any constitutional rights or privileges of the American Legion Post or its members." Click here for more details.

Tobacco tax upheld in state Supreme Court (AK)
Alaska’s state Supreme Court upheld the legality of an Alaskan borough’s excise tax on cigarettes that are manufactured, shipped, or purchased within its borders. Despite a failure to convince voters to reject the tax, Matanuska-Susitna Borough residents had filed a lawsuit in 2006 that the tax could not be enforced without approval from voters. The Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s original decision that the borough could legally impose the excise tax without voter approval. The borough’s cigarette tax amounts to approximately $1 a pack, while other tobacco products are taxed at 45% of their wholesale price. To read more, click here.

Walgreens seeks to stop S.F. tobacco ban (CA)
San Francisco recently became the first city in the U.S. to pass a ban on tobacco products in drugstores. However, lawyers representing the drug chain Walgreens have requested an injunction to prevent the law from taking effect as scheduled on October 1. Because the law does not affect tobacco sales in grocery stores or big box stores, drugstore owners fear that their businesses will be harmed, since smokers will still have convenient access to tobacco products in other types of stores. Despite the legal hurdles the law is facing in San Francisco, the idea may be catching on elsewhere; a similar law is under consideration in Boston. Click here to find out more.

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International

Russian health officials sue British American Tobacco for misleading smokers (Russia)
Russia’s top health officer announced that his governmental agency will be suing the Russian branch of British American tobacco for misleading marketing claims. The details of the lawsuit have not been released, and the tobacco company has not yet been served with the lawsuit, according to a BAT representative. According to analysts, the lawsuit is expected to center around misleading advertising about light and superlight cigarettes. Russian health organizations have recently started a major crusade against tobacco use, since Russia ratified the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control earlier this year. For more information, click here.

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