B
In response to growing concern over public health issues, Congress passed legislation permitting states to completely ban the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The legislation was subsequently upheld by the United States Supreme Court. The state of Jefferson, like most states, did not enact a complete ban on tobacco products. However, it passed a compromise measure that banned all ads for cigarettes and tobacco products by any print or broadcast media located in the state. A state tobacco distributor that wished to advertise in local newspapers brings an action in federal court to challenge the state statute. The court will probably find the statute:
A. Unconstitutional, because by choosing not to exercise its right to impose a complete ban on the sale of tobacco products, the state can no longer claim that the regulation of advertising serves a substantial government interest.
B. Unconstitutional, because the right to ban all truthful advertising for a product is not automatically justified by the right to ban the sale of a product entirely.
C. Constitutional, because the state's power to ban advertising for a product is implicit in its power to ban the product altogether.
D. Constitutional, because the ban on advertising constitutes a restriction on commercial speech that is rationally related to the legitimate state interest in reducing the use of tobacco products. 