In a case that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the trucking industry is trying to block a Maine law that requires online tobacco sellers to only work with delivery companies that verify the age of recipients, the New York Times reported Nov. 29.

Maine lawmakers approved the law in 2003 in hopes of preventing online alcohol sales to minors. But shipping companies say that the law violates federal statutes deregulating the trucking industry, and the federal government is backing their claim.

The state appealed to the Supreme Court after two lower courts sided with the industry, and the high court heard arguments in the case in late November. Thirty-eight other states have supported Maine in the lawsuit, but Justice Samuel A. Alito asked Maine attorney general Paul Stern, "What if every state enacted a slightly different law? Wouldn't you agree that there would be just the kind of patchwork regulation at the state level that this statute was intended to stop?"

Justice Stephen G. Breyer also seemed sympathetic to the industry, which said that the Maine law created a large regulatory burden on companies like Federal Express and UPS.

Five states have already gone beyond Maine's law and have banned all direct shipment of tobacco products to consumers: New York, Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Ohio.