The Supreme Court of Canada gave unanimous approval to a series of federal laws designed to prevent smoking and curb tobacco advertising, turning back an appeal by tobacco companies, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported June 28.

The high court ruled that while the laws may infringe upon the free-speech rights of tobacco companies, the government was more than justified in doing so under Canada's Charter of Rights. The laws included a ban on tobacco sponsorships and lifestyle ads and a plan to require graphic warning labels on cigarette packs.

The court said that tobacco advertising "crosses the line when it associates a product with a way of life or uses a lifestyle to evoke an emotion or image that may, by design or effect, lead more people to become addicted or lead people who are already addicted to increase their tobacco use."

The court added that "the requirement for warning labels, including their size, falls within a range of reasonable alternatives. The reasonableness of the government's requirement is supported, notably, by the fact that many countries require warnings at least as large as Canada's. Finally, the benefits flowing from larger warnings are clear, while the detriments to the manufacturers' expressive interest in creative packaging are small."

Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.; Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., and JTI-Macdonald Corp. had challenged the laws in court.

"This is a very important victory for public health," said Rob Cunningham, a spokesman for the Canadian Cancer Society. "We fought for 10 years to ensure the legislation would be upheld. We are very pleased."