August 12, 2009 | NEWS ARTICLES
Drug store tobacco sales ban in court
By Examiner Staff | San Francisco Examiner | Link to article
Lawyers from the City Attorney's Office will be in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals tomorrow to defend a 2008 San Francisco ordinance that bans the sale of tobacco in City pharmacies.
A U.S. District judge ruled against a petition by Philip Morris USA last December to invalidate the law on grounds that it violated the company's First Amendment right to free speech. The tobacco giant appealed that ruling to the Ninth Circuit.
"Consumers ought to have a reasonable expectation that drugstores will serve their health needs, not enable their deadliest habits," said City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who is running for re-election unopposed this November.
The matter of Morris USA v. City and County of San Francisco will be heard in the James Ro. Browning Courthouse, 95 7th Street, courtroom #1, third floor.
