Tobacco Companies are Big, Fat Liars

Any third grader can (and often will, sometimes unprovoked) lecture adults about the dangers of smoking cigarettes, and the myriad of health problems that accompany this addictive habit. Regardless, many of us are dumb enough to continue smoking, in spite of the wealth of information looking us in the face telling us to stop. But big tobacco companies haven't exactly been helpful in providing useful information to help people quit, and for years were deliberately obstructive in getting people accurate information about the effects of their product. And despite mountains of scientific evidence indicating the addictive qualities of smoking, executives at major tobacco corporations insisted for years that in fact cigarettes are not addictive while downplaying the negative side effects of smoking. No longer. Today a federal court ruled in favor of the US in a lawsuit filed against virtually every major American tobacco company, declaring their activities fraudulent and finding them guilty of racketeering.

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that the industry conspired for decades to deceive the public about the dangers of smoking and now must pay to help smokers kick the habit.

Sharon Eubanks, who recently stepped down as the head of the government's tobacco team said of the cigarette makers, "This is the first time they've been found to violate the racketeering statute. For crying out loud that's significant. They're racketeers."

The government had asked the judge to make the companies pay $10 billion for smoking cessation programs, though the Justice Department's own expert said $130 billion was needed.
The case is significant in that it finally forces executives at big tobacco to admit not only the harmfulness of their product (that and the fact that they had deliberately engineered advertising campaigns targeting children and teenagers had already been brought to light in court) but that they have gone out of their way to orchestrate an organized campaign of lies to continue deceiving the American public about what its own researchers already knew.

From a public health perspective smoking remains one of the most problematic activities in the US, and even though smoking rates have declined in recent decades, cigarette related illnesses remain a major obstacle to public health initiatives. Maybe the admission of tobacco companies that they have been deliberately lying and conspiring to keep the truth from consumers will help convince some people that really, it is that bad for you.

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