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FDA v. BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO CORP.

Opinion of the Court

Health Administration Reorganization Act, Pub. L. 102–321,
§ 202, 106 Stat. 394. When Congress enacted these statutes,
the adverse health consequences of tobacco use were well
known, as were nicotine’s pharmacological effects. See, e. g.,
U. S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, U. S. Surgeon
General’s Advisory Committee, Smoking and Health 25–40,
69–75 (1964) (hereinafter 1964 Surgeon General’s Report)
(concluding that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, coro-
nary artery disease, and chronic bronchitis and emphysema,
and that nicotine has various pharmacological effects, includ-
ing stimulation, tranquilization, and appetite suppression);
U. S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health
Service, Health Consequences of Smoking for Women 7–12
(1980) (ﬁnding that mortality rates for lung cancer, chronic
lung disease, and coronary heart disease are increased for
both women and men smokers, and that smoking during
pregnancy is associated with signiﬁcant adverse health ef-
fects on the unborn fetus and newborn child); U. S. Dept.
of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Why
People Smoke Cigarettes (1983), in Smoking Prevention Ed-
ucation Act, Hearings on H. R. 1824 before the Subcommittee
on Health and the Environment of the House Committee on
Energy and Commerce, 98th Cong., 1st Sess., 32–37 (1983)
(hereinafter 1983 House Hearings) (stating that smoking is
“the most widespread example of drug dependence in our
country,” and that cigarettes “affect the chemistry of the
brain and nervous system”); U. S. Dept. of Health and Human
Services, Public Health Service, The Health Consequences of
Smoking: Nicotine Addiction 6–9, 145–239 (1988) (herein-
after 1988 Surgeon General’s Report) (concluding that to-
bacco products are addicting in much the same way as heroin
and cocaine, and that nicotine is the drug that causes addic-
tion). Nonetheless, Congress stopped well short of ordering
a ban.
Instead, it has generally regulated the labeling and
advertisement of tobacco products, expressly providing that
it is the policy of Congress that “commerce and the national