[SheLion]

The most bothersome thing of all is that all this money that was going to be collected by the States from the cigarette companies never went where it was intended. The trial lawyers got their fill, as did the States. Extortion at the highest level.

Oh boy! I must make you see the light here!  The Tobacco Settlement money is NOT being paid for by Big Tobacco and NOT the state governments.  That money is paid solely by smokers in the state that pay taxes on cigarettes!

Why do you think they keep bumping the cigarette tax?  To bleed more money out of us!

And when the smokers get smart and order offline or roll their own, they are not paying into the state coffers anymore.  So.......what does the state do?  They raise taxes on cigarettes to make up for the loss. Then, they also use this money to control, restrict and ban the smokers!  Yet, their paychecks are being paid for by the MSA money, which is paid for by smokers who pay taxes on cigarettes!

Its like this:

[Northern Yankee]

I do sympatize...

I have been educated. Thanks for the enlightened (Pun intended?) view.

This whole thing has smelled fishy from the start. I do know that alot of smokers head over to our local indian gaming casinoes to buy cigarettes that are tax free.

It seems as though the Clinton administration went after "Big Tobacco" because they had failed miserably in the drug enforcement area.

[longtermmemmory]

The tobacco settlement was a cash out value of future tax revenue.

The states "cashed out" future revenue for a lump sum right now.

In exchange the tobacco companies were able to eliminate the nuisance suits. The states also go the added benefit from having their "assets" handed to them.

The real scam was the original insider agreements of the big lawyer companies. The fee agreements were nothing spectacular. The governments were stupid enough to sign without thinking and then wanted to renegotiate.

The governments simple cut the goose open because they wanted all the golden eggs at once.

What happens when they start marketing a safe cigarette? Will we have nicotine gum suits in the future?