San Francisco - Philip Morris has dropped its lawsuit challenging San Francisco's prohibition on tobacco sales at pharmacies..

October 16, 2009 - The announcement Thursday, October 15th by the San Francisco city attorney's office follows a federal appeals court ruling denying the company's request for an injunction that would have kept it from enforcing the year-old law.

A spokesman for Altria Group Inc., parent company of Philip Morris, confirmed the suit had been dropped but had no further comment.

San Francisco officials passed the ban in 2008, noting the health problems associated with tobacco products.

City officials are still defending the law in a separate lawsuit brought by the Walgreens drugstore chain. A Superior Court judge dismissed that case, which is now on appeal.

Reference: Philip Morris drops challenge to SF tobacco ban, Associated Press, 10/15/2009.

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