Word: tobacco
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...that they have drawn first blood from the tobacco empire, I wish the state attorneys general would do something more worthwhile with their time. Two weeks ago, 22 state attorneys general and the Liggett group, a cigarette manufacturer, struck a deal to resolve smokers' claims. Anti-smoking forces rejoiced because the Liggett group also agreed to surrender documents that may incriminate other, larger tobacco companies. This capitulation by Liggett is a cause for celebration, at least for those who started smoking before the government's recent war against tobacco companies...
...anti-smoking campaign made that decision fully aware of many of the dangers of cigarette smoke. For the past 24 years, "Surgeon General's Warning: Smoking is hazardous to your health" has appeared on all cigarette boxes and in cigarette ads. As adults who knew the risks associated with tobacco, smoking was their prerogative. Why should states waste time and money battling tobacco companies in the courts over smokers who made a poor, but autonomous and informed, decision...
...real battleground of smoking is the youth market. This is where attorneys general should be concentrating their forces. Considering that only over-21 adults can buy tobacco, we can fairly conclude that there should be no youth market for cigarettes at all. Yet although the number of smokers overall in the U.S. is declining, the number of teenage smokers is increasing. Cigarette manufacturers insist that youth are not their target. However, Liggett admitted in the agreement that they did, in fact, target youth. In this admission lies the real victory. "For 30 years the tobacco industry has said to anyone...
...been unaware of the increase in under-age smokers lighting up, nor has it been silent in response. The FDA cracked down on cigarette billboards near schools and on cigarette ads in magazines with youth readerships. But there is only so much a single agency can do against tobacco companies that have a total advertising budget of $5 billion. If the states joined the battle, tobacco companies could be shut out of the youth market de facto, as they already are de jure...
Government regulators, forced to pay through Medicaid for the treatment of myriad cases of emphysema and lung cancer, have launched their own assault against tobacco companies. Yet they have been unable to win in a court of law, despite revelations of the addictive properties of nicotine. Tobacco companies have never paid a cent for health problems incurred by smoking. Fortunately, now that the Liggett agreement will unearth older documents, the states may have more fire-power. But what will be the end to this war? Will states be happy with the destruction of Philip Morris, which has 48 percent...