Judge rejects challenge to tobacco marketing regs

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a tobacco industry attempt to block new restrictions on marketing tobacco has little chance of succeeding.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. on Thursday refused to issue a preliminary injunction barring the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from exercising its new authority over tobacco, granted in June.

Two of the nation's largest tobacco companies, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Inc., sued the agency in August in Bowling Green, Ky., along with several other companies, hoping to block the new law's enforcement.

They claimed parts of The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act violated their right to free speech. Reynolds says the act has provisions restricting or banning truthful speech.