Tobacco Settlement Summary

 

     

  1. The Foundation

    Anti-smoking advertising campaigns are extremely effective when they are long-term, and consistently portray smoking as hazardous for adults and children alike, according to an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

  2. The Settlement:

     

  3. Cartoon Characters

    [Tobacco] advertisements present images that appeal to children and youths and are seen and remembered by them. Concern has been expressed that while smoking may not have had an immediate effect on smoking uptake, they may increase suscep tibility to smoking, which over time translates into behavior." - Institute of Medicine.

    The Settlement:

     

     

  4. Targeting Youth

    "This young adult market, the 14-24 group....represent(s) tomorrow's cigarette business. As this 14-24 age group matures, they will account for a key share of the total cigarette volume for at least the next 25 years." - Present ation from C.A. Tucker, Vice President of Marketing, to the Board of Directors, RJR Industries, September 30, 1974.

    The Settlement:

     

  5. Public Access to Documents and Court Files

    "The American people deserve to know the truth about the tobacco industry's marketing practices...." - U.S. Rep. Thomas Bliley.

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  6. Outdoor Advertising

    "Tobacco companies spend more than $5 billion annually, or $13 million a day, on advertising and marketing campaigns." - Federal Trade Commission.

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  7. Tobacco Merchandise

    "Thirty percent of kids (12 to 17 years old), both smokers and nonsmokers, own at least one tobacco promotional item, such as T-shirts, backpacks, and CD players." - Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

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  8. Product Placement And Sponsorships

    A document uncovered in the Minnesota case revealed how Phillip Morris provided products for use in movies as youth-oriented as "The Muppet Movie" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."

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  9. Dissolution of Tobacco-Related Organizations

    "The documents, considered as a whole, provide evidence that supports the state's assertions that defendants used CTR (Council for Tobacco Research) to mislead the public..." - Honorable George Finkle, King County Superior Court Judge (Washington State).

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  10. Financial Recovery For The States

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  11. Enforcement

    "At least 516 million packs of cigarettes per year are consumed by minors and at least half of those are illegally sold to minors." - Institute of Medicine in its book Growing Up Tobacco Free.

    The Settlement:

     

  12. Free Samples

    "Samples encourage experimentation by providing minors with a risk-free and cost-free way to satisfy their curiosity." -- Institute of Medicine.

    The Settlement:

     

  13. Gifts Based on Purchases

    "[T]eens save Marlboro Miles and Camel Cash coupons in order to acquire other types of goods. . . . My brother gets Camel Cash. He's got stacks and stacks of them to get hats or whatever." - The Institute of Medicine in its book Growin g up Tobacco Free.

    The Settlement:

     

     

  14. Lobbying

    "Big tobacco spent $28.8 million in 1996 and $35.5 million in 1997 and employed 208 lobbyists to lobby Congress. That is one lobbyist for every 2.5 members of Congress." - Public Citizen.

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  15. Prohibition on Agreements to Suppress Research

    "Cigarettes kill more than 400,000 Americans every year. This figure represents more deaths than from AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, drugs and fires - combined." -Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

    The Settlement:

     

  16. Minimum Pack Size

    "As the price of a pack of cigarettes continues to increase, more merchants (in minority, white, poor, and middle-class communities alike) may begin selling singles as a way to continue to make profits from adult and minor customers who c an no longer afford an entire pack." - From a study by the Public Health Foundation.

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  17. Cost Recovery And Attorney Fees

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This is a page in the section entitled Lawyers Make Billions at Expense of Sick and Dying Smokers in the Web site entitled Legal Reform Through Transforming the Discipline of Law into a Science.