Tobacco.org

• EDITORIAL: State Grabs Money Meant For Quitting Smoking 

When it comes to tobacco addiction, Connecticut's state government has been nearly as exploitative and venal as the tobacco companies it went after more than a dozen years ago.

The state led the nation in suing Big Tobacco, with then-Attorney General Richard Blumenthal demanding compensation for the high cost of Medicaid patients who are prone to smoke. The idea was that tobacco companies would give states money to care for the ill — and prevent others from becoming addicted.

The argument won the day. Connecticut and 45 other states won billions of dollars in 1998 as part of the historic tobacco settlement. But hypocrisy soon followed.

This income stream of $100 million-plus annually will end in 11 more years. It has become little more than a slush fund to pay for practically everything but quitting smoking. . . .

Between 2000 and 2009, according to an excellent Yankee Institute study (bit.ly/tobaccoct), of the $1.3 billion sent to Connecticut from the settlement, only $134 million went to the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund. But it gets even worse: The state government raided that "trust fund" of all but $9.2 million for other goals.

Mr. Blumenthal, now U.S. senator, says, "We should be embarrassed and ashamed that one of the nation's leading states in public health is failing to use the money to help people quit. "

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Philip Morris USA Makes Master Settlement Agreement Payment of Approximately $3.5 Billion 

Attorney General Conway Announces $101.7 Million in Tobacco Settlement Money 

$74.6 million to go to tobacco settlement fund 

LETTER: No-smoking rule demeaning to veterans  

The governor's ban on tobacco use on state property has veterans afraid they'll be encouraged to leave veterans centers if they smoke. Those who join the military agree to give up many freedoms and take personal risks to defend our country. They also have an inclination to other legal risk-taking behaviors such as drinking, tobacco use, motorcycle riding and delicious chow. Unfortunately these risky personal choices are at odds with the current lifestyle craze. So, today's warriors are faced with conflicting messages. They're recruited and trained to take mortal risks on the battlefield but, good heavens, not those risks.

Despite a zero-tolerance smoking and alcohol prohibition during the 11-week boot camp, most resume smoking. . . .

The MSA needs a cessation program.

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• Big Tobacco pays states $6.5 billion, unchanged from 2011 

Three of the biggest U.S. tobacco companies said on Monday they have paid a total of $6.5 billion this year to U.S. states, unchanged from 2011, under a 1998 national accord that obliges companies to help cover the health bills of ailing smokers.

Altria's (MO.N) Philip Morris paid $3.5 billion, but the Marlboro-maker is disputing $206 million of that sum and has put that money in escrow.

The national settlement, which involved most states, is designed to level the playing field between companies that signed it and those that did not. So the signing companies' payments are reduced by the amount of market share they lost to firms that did not participate in the settlement.

But the participating tobacco companies for years have argued the reductions were not big enough, and the major companies are putting the sums they dispute into escrow.

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• Big Tobacco Cos. Challenge $6.5B Payout Deal With States  

Philip Morris USA Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. have paid roughly $6.5 billion this year under a master settlement resolving 46 states' health claims, but the companies are disputing portions of those payments, they said Monday.

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EDITORIAL: Tobacco fund: Kitty is being tweaked too many times 

Cigarette Brands of Participating Manufacturers of the MSA 

KOSTER: Cigarette tax increase is in order  

The General Assembly should take action before the people are forced to act on their own behalf through the initiative process. Our state should use this money in a way that improves public health, promotes education and provides real economic benefit for our citizens. To miss this opportunity is to fail in our responsibility as elected leaders of Missouri.

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• TCC welcomes action against tobacco giant  

In what constitutes the first case of its kind in Asia, a leading tobacco giant operating in Pakistan has been declared guilty of violating the country’s tobacco control laws, and has been punished with a fine of Rs5,000. The decision has sent of wave of jubilation among tobacco control activists.

In response to a report lodged by the coordinator of the Tobacco Control Cell in Hyderabad, the civil magistrate of Hyderabad fined Philip Morris International on March 20 for publishing a full-page advertisement in different national magazines (in November 2011) in violation of the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) 882(1)2007 issued under section 7 of the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002. This section restricts tobacco advertisements in print media to a size no more than one square inch.

The said advertisement not only violated the law by exceeding more than the allowed size but also printed the now expired text-based health warning instead of the mandatory pictorial health warning.

Reading out the order, civil magistrate Ahmed Nawaz Domki said, “It is clear that the accused has violated the law.” He imposed a fine of Rs5,000 as per the tobacco control laws.

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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Reports 2011 Results  

The man who smoked out $246bn from big tobacco  

Ron Motley, who co-founded Motley and Rice in 2003, will forever be remembered in American legal circles as one of the men who fought big tobacco - and won.

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• The Big (Tobacco-Related) Threat to Missouri's Budget You've Probably Never Heard Of  

Not only do we levy the lowest cigarette tax in the entire nation (a paltry 17 cents per pack). Our legislature is the only one that forces Big Tobacco to cough up payments for smoking-related health costs while also letting generic cigarette brands off the hook.

In so doing, we've frustrated Big Tobacco to the point that they're now dragging us into legal proceedings to "claw back" their payments, which could eventually total $1 billion, according to Attorney General Chris Koster. Arbitration begins in just a few weeks.

And if $1 billion liability doesn't sound like a big deal to you (because our state spends about $24 billion a year), we invite you to imagine wiping out the operating budgets of the following entities for one year: the General Assembly, the Judiciary, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Conservation, the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Economic Development.

"Simply put," wrote Koster in a January letter to lawmakers, "the General Assembly's inaction over the last decade has placed our state in terrible and unnecessary peril."

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UPDATE: Testimony over, judge expected to rule on smoking ban injunction by Saturday