Big tobacco companies sue feds

PADUCAH, KY — Casting out his fishing line onto the waters at Noble Park, Harold Menser inhales deeply.

"I can breathe better, a whole lot better," he said, with a smile.

In fact, Harold Menser said since he stopped smoking five months ago, everything, even fishing, is better.

But when he first lit up more than 45 years ago, he said he was not giving his health a second thought.

"It didn't have any health issues on the packs," he said. "No cautions, nothing when I started smoking."

He said labels need to be on cigarette packages and even agreed with the FDA's June announcement to include nine images on the packs, beginning in the fall of 2012.

"They hit home for me. My lungs probably look like this," he said of an image that compares a blackened pair of lungs to a non-smoker's pink, fleshy ones.

But four of the five largest tobacco firms say those new warnings violate their free speech rights. Those tobacco companies, led by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, filed a lawsuit Tuesday, wanting a judge to stop the labels.

In part, the lawsuit reads, "Never before in the United States have producers of a lawful product been required to use their own packaging and advertising to convey an emotionally charged government message urging adult consumers to shun their products."

Smoker Richard Kent said he agrees.

"I'm aware of the risk and it's a decision I am choosing to make."

Kent said while it might not be a good decision, it is his nonetheless and the federal government should but out.

"That's not necessary whatsoever," he said, flipping through photos of the proposed ads on Wednesday.

But Menser said it is. He wishes the warnings would have been there for him.

"I just hope they're enough to stop my grandkids."

Another reason big tobacco companies are fighting the ads: they say not only are they violating their free speech rights, but they also believe the images were manipulated to be especially emotional. A picture of a corpse, they contest, is actually an actor with a fake scar.

No word yet on when that judge's ruling is expected. The FDA refused to comment, saying the agency does not discuss pending cases. But in the past, the organization has referred to the ads as "frank" and "honest" warnings about the dangers of smoking.