On Mar. 21, 2000, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 along ideological lines, that the FDA does not have authority to regulate tobacco as a drug.

The FDA’s anti-smoking initiative would have required retailers to check the identification of cigarette and smokeless-tobacco buyers under age 27 and prohibited cigarette vending machines except in bars and other adults-only places. But the rules were more important as the first test of FDA authority to regulate the tobacco industry.