The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a California court's decision to deny a lawsuit charging the tobacco industry with intentionally marketing to children, the Associated Press reported March 17.

The California Supreme Court last year ruled that tobacco advertising was commercial speech protected under the First Amendment, and this week the Supreme Court agreed by declining to accept the case for review. The plaintiffs in the case had charged tobacco company Philip Morris USA under a California law banning unfair competition, saying the company had an advantage over other tobacco firms that did not violate the state's prohibition against advertising to minors.

The courts agreed to Philip Morris' contention that federal law trumps a California state law banning cigarette ads on health grounds. A similar issue is at the center of another case on the Supreme Court's docket pitting Maine smokers against tobacco firms they charge have deceptively marketed so-called "light" cigarettes.