Scarcnet News Summaries (Advocacy Institute)
Editorials Support Justice Department Lawsuit Against Big Tobacco
Length: pages
Abstract
Editorials in the CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR and the ALBANY TIMES UNION both support President Clinton's plan for taking on the tobacco industry with a lawsuit to recover federal money spent on treating smoking-related illnesses. The MONITOR wrote: "[T]he companies, though settling with the states for $206 billion over 25 years, got off a lot easier last year than they would have if the congressional tobacco-settlement bill had passed. They can pay more, and should. And the Justice Department should strive to work into any settlement some key non-monetary elements, notably federal regulation of nicotine as a dangerous drug. . . . Most important, this move by the administration, together with its pledge to seek a large increase in the federal tax on cigarettes, continues a needed battle.But the legal and tax thrust must be joined to extensive educational efforts to cut youth smoking. Then the slavery to tobacco addiction will decline even more over the long run." The TIMES UNION also supports Clinton's objectives, but warns that he must come up with a proposal that is acceptable to all parties, including the tobacco industry: "The President's objectives are laudatory. By raising the price of cigarettes, he would help discourage teenagers from picking up the habit by pricing it beyond their means. . . . There are likely to be objections that rather than earmarking the money for the anti-smoking effort, much of it would pay for various social initiatives that Mr. Clinton is expected to include in his new budget. That is sure to revive the tobacco industry's campaign portraying the cigarette tax as an added burden on working families - a tactic that worked quite well for the industry last year. . . . If the price tag [of Clinton's lawsuit] is too high, though, the tobacco industry is likely to balk again. Mr. Clinton would do well to remember that lesson, and craft a proposal acceptable to all parties involved."
Sources: Editorial, "Tobacco Battles, Rejoined," CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, January 22, 1999, p. 10; Editorial, "Round 2 On Tobacco," ALBANY TIMES UNION, January 21, 1999, p. A10.