American tobacco companies lied for decades about the danger of smoking. And industry executives conspired to lie.
That’s not exactly a news flash to the average ex-smoker in the street.
But one could say it’s official now.
Last Thursday, federal District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that major tobacco companies had violated civil racketeering laws by conspiring to deceive the public about the dangers of their products.
The criminal conduct took place for decades.
“Put more colloquially and less legalistically, over the course of more than 50 years, defendants lied, misrepresented and deceived the American public, including smokers and the young people they avidly sought as ‘replacement smokers,’ about the devastating health effects of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke,” Kessler wrote in a 1,742-page ruling. The companies “suppressed research, they destroyed documents, they manipulated the use of nicotine so as to increase and perpetuate addiction … and they abused the legal system in order to achieve their goal – to make money with little if any regard for individual illness and suffering, soaring health costs, or the integrity of the legal system.”
The Washington, D.C., judge ordered tobacco companies to change their marketing, including stopping use of such terms as “low tar,” “light” and “mild,” to confess their sins in advertising and to keep the court posted on marketing for the next 10 years.
Kessler didn’t impose monetary penalties (the Justice Department originally sought $280 billion), citing an appeals court ruling that the companies couldn’t be forced to pay financial penalties. (Tobacco companies did pay a $246 billion settlement in a 1998 lawsuit settlement with state governments.)
Unrepentant as always, the companies indicated they’d probably appeal. “We are disappointed and disagree with the judge’s ruling,” said David Howard of R.J. Reynolds.
Legal experts believe the ruling will have no significant financial impact on the industry. So citizens are left to impose their own penalties: quit smoking and stop buying cigarettes.
