A federal judge recently — and very appropriately — blocked the federal government’s plan to force tobacco companies to place grisly, graphic warning labels on cigarette packs.
But now a federal appeals court in Kentucky has upheld the warnings, meaning that tobacco companies in effect will have to pay for labels that, in gruesome fashion, urge people not to purchase their products.
The ads show things such as cadavers and diseased lungs.
Smoking can, indeed, cause premature death and a range of illnesses. It should be strongly discouraged.
But unless and until Congress decides to make tobacco illegal, Washington should not force tobacco companies to advertise in sickening fashion against their own products.