(12-29) 13:41 PST New York (AP) -- A federal judge has rejected New York City's planned campaign to scare people into quitting smoking with grisly advertisements near where cigarettes are sold, saying the effort is laudable but pre-empted by federal law.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff said "even merchants of morbidity are entitled to the full protection of the law." On Wednesday, he blocked a city campaign that would require the ads be posted wherever tobacco products are sold by Saturday.
The judge said the advertisements included images of a brain damaged by a stroke, a decaying tooth in gums and a diseased lung.
A message left by The Associated Press with the city law office was not immediately returned.
