Win for Minnesota
On May 8, 1998, after hundreds of legal motions, a fifteen-week trial, a dozen appeals, including two to the US Supreme Court, the case was finally settled.
clker.com
The settlement required tobacco manufacturers to pay Minnesota $6.1 billion over 25 years and $200 million annually, forever. The settlement money was to promote smoking-cessation programs for Minnesotans, tobacco research, and tobacco control.
The greatest impact came from the exchange of 35 million pages of the industry’s documents, which revealed the industry’s misconduct and allowed the public to encounter the truth about Big Tobacco.
As a result of the settlement, tobacco companies could no longer:
Effects were soon felt beyond Minnesota. Within a year after the trial, the tobacco industry negotiated a Master Settlement Agreement with 46 additional states and numerous U.S. territories. States received billions of dollars and the right to restrict tobacco advertising.
These defeats prompted tobacco companies to admit tobacco’s dangers, nicotine’s addictive qualities, and they began to develop safer cigarettes. This gave Big Tobacco new advertising opportunities to rebuild their public image and made them immune to future lawsuits for withholding knowledge and circulating false information.
The greatest impact came from the exchange of 35 million pages of the industry’s documents, which revealed the industry’s misconduct and allowed the public to encounter the truth about Big Tobacco.
As a result of the settlement, tobacco companies could no longer:
- Market directly to youth
- Create misrepresentations about tobacco's health consequences
- Sell merchandise featuring cigarette brand names or logos
- Use transit or billboard advertising
- Accept payment for tobacco placement in movies
- Use anti-competitive practices
Effects were soon felt beyond Minnesota. Within a year after the trial, the tobacco industry negotiated a Master Settlement Agreement with 46 additional states and numerous U.S. territories. States received billions of dollars and the right to restrict tobacco advertising.
These defeats prompted tobacco companies to admit tobacco’s dangers, nicotine’s addictive qualities, and they began to develop safer cigarettes. This gave Big Tobacco new advertising opportunities to rebuild their public image and made them immune to future lawsuits for withholding knowledge and circulating false information.
"By insisting on going to trial, and obtaining the industry's most incriminating documents, Attorney General Humphrey has done a great service."
--Senator Edward M. Kennedy
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Before
www.tobaccofreekids.org
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After
www.frankwbaker.com
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