The Boston Globe

Opinion

Boston.com

Jeff Jacoby

We can still breathe deep on free speech

By Jeff Jacoby

 |  Globe Columnist  

  November 13, 2011

At a White House press briefing, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that the new cigarette packaging regulations would amount to ”rebranding” cigarette packs, transforming them to convey the message that ”smoking is gross.” But ”smoking is gross” is opinion, not fact. Millions of Americans - including me - may share that opinion, but under the Constitution the government has no power to compel anyone to express it. Requiring vendors to post accurate information the First Amendment allows; forcing them to promote the FDA’s anti-tobacco ideology it forbids.r

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