Posted on 05/22/2009 9:23:34 AM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON, (AP) --
A federal appeals court on Friday largely agreed with a landmark ruling that found cigarette makers deceived the public for decades about the heath hazards of smoking.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington upheld the major elements of a 2006 ruling that found the nation's top tobacco companies guilty of fraud and violating racketeering laws.
The ruling said manufacturers must change the way they market cigarettes. It bans labels such as "low tar,""light,""ultra light" or "mild," since such cigarettes have been found to be no safer than others because of how people smoke them.
It also says the companies must publish "corrective statements" on the adverse health effects and addictiveness of smoking and nicotine.
The changes have not taken affect while the case has been under appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
If the tobacco companies had the guts, they should pull out of the US market. I’d love to see how the anti smoking pols react when they see that tax base vanish.
Fascism on the march. Damn, I hate the courts.
"Taken 'affect'"? WTF? Don't they have editors at that paper? How about spellcheck?
I agree. The nanny state wants to demonize smokers, but they’re addicted to the money.
Of course, all those people living longer will require medical care and that will increase the “need” for national health care.
Deceived the public,a lot of that going around now aday.
Really all they need to do is add the word “flavor” to the existing labels and they would be mostly accurate. Though Ultra Lights would have to be labeled “Ultra Light No Flavor”
I was really effected by your last post. It was an affective attempt at supporting good grammar. ;) Irregardless, they should have edited it. But I ain’t no expert. I’m not sure where this is going to.
Guess they never should have agreed to the huge bailout they provided to the government a few years back. Did not seem to protect them from anything.
Your funny.
Maybe the court waited until Obama told them what he wanted. After all, he IS a smoker and can claim he was deceived.
Yeh, the MSA was a protection racket that provided no protection.
Waiting for the lawsuit against Al Gore’s deceit about the
“dangers” of man made global warming. Fraud on a massive scale.
puff
Did anyone expect any other outcome?
A lot of the foreign cig makers have pulled out. Just wasn’t worth the risk.
:-)
You had to axe dat?
If the government had any guts they’d just ban them outright.
Guts are lacking in the public and the government these days... leadership is a lost art across the board.
You're right, add the word "flavor", because smokers chose their cigarettes that way -- not just menthol or non menthol, but also for tar/nicotine ratio that is ultimately "flavor".
This ruling makes no real sense. A low nicotine cigarette may not be any "safer", but it makes it easier for someone to eventually quit smoking based on weaning themselves off of their physiological dependence on nicotine. Instead they've made quitting an all or nothing game. It's stupid.
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