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Settlements reached by states with the tobacco industry

Elements of tobacco lawsuit settlements by Minnesota, Texas, Florida and Mississippi. The Texas, Florida and Mississippi agreements guarantee they will received any concessions other states get. Some of the agreements had provisions not mentioned here that were pegged to a proposed national settlement, which tobacco companies abandoned last month.

Minnesota

  • $6.6 billion paid over 25 years; includes $102 million to provide free treatment to Minnesota smokers who want to stop.
  • Industry to disband Council For Tobacco Research and may not start any similar research group.
  • No payments for tobacco product placements in movies nationally.
  • Industry may not market to children in Minnesota.
  • No more billboard tobacco advertising or tobacco advertisements in transit areas in Minnesota.
  • Industry may not make factual assertions on health consequences of using tobacco products.
  • Industry may not agree to limit research into smoking and health or product development.
  • Industry cannot oppose passage of certain legislative proposals or administrative rules in Minnesota regarding youth tobacco use, but may challenge such laws after they're adopted. Industry cannot challenge current Minnesota laws restricting tobacco use.
  • Industry may not give away or sell non-tobacco merchandise such as caps, jackets or bags that bear tobacco brand logos in Minnesota.

Texas

  • $15.32 billion over 25 years; $1.2 billion in 1998; money will be appropriated by the legislature.
  • Restrictions on industry marketing, such as eliminating advertising on billboards, buses, taxis or in transit stations or waiting areas.
  • Industry may not challenge laws recently passed by the Texas Legislature that affect the sale to and possession of tobacco products by children under 18.
  • Tobacco industry to pay attorney general's office $5 million for its costs and attorneys' fees.

Florida

  • Estimated $11 billion settlement paid over indefinite period; $750 million already paid.
  • All cigarette billboards taken down, starting with signs within 1,000 feet of schools.
  • Removal of cigarette vending machines accessible to children.
  • Ban on advertising: on billboards, in open-air or enclosed arenas and on mass transit; exception for billboards and ads for NASCAR auto racing and similar multi-state sports and entertainment tours.
  • Industry pays "reasonable" fees to private attorneys, to be determined by arbitration.
  • A special $200 million fund for a state pilot program specifically aimed at reducing the number of children who smoke.
  • Settlement funds will be used for children's health-care coverage, mental health services, substance abuse prevention, intervention and services and other health-related services; to reimburse state for medical expenses, for mandated improvements in state enforcement of a ban on tobacco sales to minors and to guarantee performance targets set in the national settlement.

Mississippi

  • A $3.36 billion settlement over 25 years; state received first payment, $170 million, on July 15, 1997, and expects another $68 million this year.
  • Removal of all cigarette billboard advertisements statewide.
  • A $62 million payment from cigarette makers to fund a pilot program to reduce teen smoking.
  • Attorney General Mike Moore, who negotiated the settlement, has proposed using interest from the settlement payments to improve health care. The 1999 Mississippi Legislature is expected to decide how the money will be spent.

National picture

  • A $368.5 billion national settlement negotiated last year by the industry and most of the state attorneys general fell apart in April when tobacco companies walked away from the deal.
  • Several bills are pending in Congress. Only one, sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee chairman John McCain (R-Arizona), has cleared a congressional committee. It would charge the industry $516 billion over 25 years and cap awards the industry would be forced to pay plaintiffs at $6.5 billion annually. It would raise federal cigarette taxes by $1.10 a pack by 2003.

Copyright 1998   The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 
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