At a time when 3,000 of our children are starting to smoke every day and 1,000 of them will die prematurely, Congress must act to blunt the enticement of those children to experiment with this deadly and addictive drug. The advertising practices of this industry have created a huge imbalance in bargaining power between the industry and its consumers. The tobacco industry targets consumers that are either underage or have become physically and psychologically dependent on the product. As recently disclosed internal industry documents show, the industry deliberately recruited young teenagers with the intent and effect of creating life-long addicted customers. In addition, advertising images also provide subconscious cues to reinforce addictive behavior.
Governments have the ability to protect consumers from such predatory behavior.
Thus the proposed regulation of commercial speech has an economic as well as a public health underpinning. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of speech, but this right has never been an absolute right to say anything, anywhere, on any topic. Corp. v. Public Serv. Second, the restriction must further a substantial state interest. Third, the restriction must directly advance the government interest.