Friday, April 25, 1997

"This historic ruling is a great victory, establishing for the first time federal authority to regulate tobacco products."

The decision is one ruling by one judge in one case, but it is one more resounding defeat for an industry once thought to be invincible. It shows how dramatically the landscape has changed in the courtroom and the court of public opinion.

It is an extraordinary event for a judge in tobacco country to say that tobacco products fit the definition of a drug under our law and may be regulated by the FDA, as we have urged and supported.

This devastating defeat to the tobacco industry should strengthen our hand in the courtroom and at the bargaining table.

The FDA now should move to impose strict restrictions on access and labeling, including sale and distribution of these lethal products, so that millions of teen-agers can be saved from death and addiction. We hope to win in negotiations or litigation critical restrictions on advertising and promotion that the court precluded today.

The President has announced an appeal of this part of the ruling and we will support him and continue to lead other states in that effort."

Editor's Note: Attorney General Richard Blumenthal led nearly 30 attorneys general last year in support of the FDA regulations. He filed Connecticut's lawsuit against the industry last July and is one of five attorneys general leading negotiations with the tobacco industry.