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Newsom: Big tobacco likely to lose latest challenge
By: Mike Aldax
01/07/10 1:15 PM PST
Mayor Gavin Newsom anticipates little trouble stamping out big tobacco’s latest legal challenge against San Francisco policies.
Philip Morris USA has filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court about the 20-cent fee The City has imposed on packs of cigarettes. Money from the fee will go toward cleaning cigarette butts from city streets, The City says.
“We put the legislation together in expectation that [tobacco companies] most likely would file a suit,” Newsom said. “That’s why we did a study. That’s why we drafted the legislation in a very specific way.”
Frankly, “I think they’ll lose,” Newsom said.
So there are your pre-game fighting words. But don’t throw a tailgate party just yet. This case could take months to resolve, a deputy city attorney said.
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