By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — New York City can't place graphics ads featuring diseased teeth, lungs and other body parts next to cigarette promotions anymore, following a federal judge's ruling Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
Tobacco producers and retailers applauded U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff's decision that only the federal government can legally require that health warnings be placed alongside cigarette ads, according to the AP.
In New York, a 2009 Board of Health code change led the city to try to curb smoking by placing pictures of decaying teeth, damaged brains and sick lungs next to smoking ads and products, the AP reported. The city planned to require 11,000 shops to put such placards next to their cash registers, according to the New York Times.
In his ruling, Rakoff noted that the 1965 Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act includes a provision that states could not prohibit smoking promos or ads.
"Even merchants of morbidity are entitled to the full protection of the law, for our sake as well as theirs," Rakoff said, according to the AP.
The City Law Department will appeal the decision, a spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.
"The city's warning signs portray completely factual messages about the dangers of smoking," a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene wrote in a statement expressing strong disagreement with the ruling. "Tobacco companies that are trying to prevent these messages from being seen should be ashamed of themselves."
Attorney Floyd Abrams, who represented some owners already displaying the placards, told the AP that businesses hope the ruling will help them recover business that had plummeted among smokers and non-smokers alike who "didn't want to look at the disgusting images."
The health code change struck down in the ruling accompanied other aggressive efforts including the city's ban on smoking inside bars, restaurants and offices, new anti-smoking education programs and a rise in taxes on cigarettes. In October, tempers flared over a proposed bill that would extend the ban to public beaches, parks and plazas.
Just Tuesday, the Health Department launched a new ad campaign targeted at 150,000 adults who expose children in their households to second hand smoke. Director Spike Lee created the television spots, called "Secondhand Smoke Kids."
