
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 1, 1995                   TAG: 9509010078
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND, VA.                                LENGTH: Short

COURT UPHOLDS BAN ON TOBACCO SIGNS

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a Baltimore ban on alcohol and cigarette billboards in most neighborhoods.

The Maryland ordinances were believed to be the first of their kind in the nation when passed last year. Cincinnati passed a similar ordinance regulating tobacco billboards last summer.

Penn Advertising of Baltimore Inc., which rents billboard space, and brewer Anheuser-Busch Inc. challenged the Baltimore ordinances before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing they violate free speech rights.

But Judge Paul Niemeyer, in the unanimous decision for a three-judge panel of the court, dismissed those claims.

- Associated Press

by CNB