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Last Updated: 9/10/97 - Use the Back Button to return to article index

These are the latest "hot" stories we have located on the Web. Find much more in our news categories by using the buttons in your left-hand frame. Stories start here and then are moved to the appropriate category shortly thereafter. The links to these stories (and those in the topic libraries) may expire at any time.
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• Tobacco Break Repeal Faces Vote in Senate: (Reuters)
  The Senate Wednesday is likely to vote on an attempt to strip the tobacco companies of what critics call a "$50 billion giveaway."
  - Sep 10 8:08 AM EDT
• Florida Lawyers May Delay Tobacco Payment: (Reuters)
  Four lawyers who helped force the tobacco industry into an $11.3 billion settlement with Florida are trying to hold up the cigarette makers' payments unless they get more money, the Wall Street Journal said.
  - Sep 10 7:04 AM EDT
• Senators Push Tobacco Tax Credit Repeal (Washington Post)
  The Washington Post A bipartisan group of senators mounted a major effort last night to repeal a controversial $50 billion tax credit that tobacco companies can claim against costs of a national tobacco settlement.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) introduced legislation to keep tobacco companies from using existing law to take a tax deduction for the billions of dollars they would have to pay under the...
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 12:42 Universal Time
• No Smoking Gun (Washington Post)
  Spanogle doesn't say is that while exposure to dioxin may have been involuntary, one didn't have to smoke the cigarettes in one's "K" rations. I didn't smoke before the Navy gave me two cigarettes three times a day in my rations, I didn't smoke after the Navy gave me cigarettes in my rations, and I still don't smoke.
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 12:42 Universal Time
• Reynolds Settles Joe Camel Suit (ABC News)
       "This may be terribly important as a model for what cities and counties can do to control the tobacco industry," Daynard said.      "You were dealing with something which was a bleeding wound for the industry," he said.
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 12:42 Universal Time
• RJR settles with City; Joe Camel on way out (San Francisco Examiner)
  settled a suit brought by San Francisco and several other local governments by agreeing to retire its Joe Camel advertising campaign across the state. Of the $10 million, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles will each receive $1.5 million for anti-smoking education and advertising efforts.
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 03:51 Universal Time
• California Sends Joe Camel To an Earlier Retirement (Washington Post)
  All Front Page stories from this morning's Washington Post and an image of the Front Page. R.J. Reynolds also will pay California communities $10 million -- $9 million will go to 11 counties and the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose to pay for anti-smoking campaigns; the last $1 million will go to reimburse legal costs.
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 12:42 Universal Time
• Agency proposes changes in tar and nicotine testing (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  WASHINGTON -- The federal agency that regulates advertisements proposed yesterday a new way of testing tar and nicotine levels in cigarettes that would show a range of levels rather than a single measurement. The Federal Trade Commission plan would prompt tobacco companies, in their ads, to include the new tar and nicotine ranges as well as a disclaimer telling smokers that the amount they get...
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 12:42 Universal Time
• U.S. May Alter Tobacco Ads (ABC News)
       The FTC also proposed a disclaimer in ads that would caution smokers about inhaling deeply.      — How much tar and nicotine you get from a cigarette depends on how intensely you smoke it.
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 12:42 Universal Time
• Secondhand Smoke Contains Carcinogen (Pathfinder)
  NEW YORK (Reuters) -- For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that people exposed to secondhand cigarette smoke on-the-job do indeed absorb a cancer-causing agent found in smoke. ``This is the first time that a metabolite of a tobacco-specific lung carcinogen has been found in the urine of nonsmokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke under field conditions,'' stated study author...
  First found: 10 Sep 1997, 03:51 Universal Time
• Bar Smoking Bill OKd by Assembly / But defeat likely in Senate, sources say (San Francisco Chronicle)
  Greg Lucas, Robert B. Gunnison, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau Sacramento California smokers could keep smoking in bars and card clubs at least through January 1999 under a bill passed yesterday by the Assembly and sent to an uncertain fate in the Senate. Eleven Democrats backed the measure, including Cruz Bustamante, D- Fresno, and Assemblyman Lou Papan, D-Millbrae.
  First found: 9 Sep 1997, 18:48 Universal Time
• Flight attendants' attorneys wrap up - Cigarette-makers will ask judge to bypass jury and quickly issue verdict (AP/Winston Salem Journal)
  Flight attendants who say that secondhand smoke in aircraft cabins made them sick rested their case against the tobacco industry yesterday after eight weeks of testimony. ''This jury, I think like no other jury in the history of tobacco litigation, has gotten the full story of tobacco-industry behavior for the last half-century,'' said Stanley Rosenblatt, an attorney for the flight attendants.
  9 Sept 1997
• Judge scales down Texas tobacco suit: (Reuters)
  A federal judge has scaled down the Texas lawsuit against the tobacco companies, dismissing several claims against the cigarette makers. -
  Sep 09 9:29 AM EDT
• Big Tobacco fights Texas in $14 billion lawsuit: (Reuters)
  The nation's tobacco companies said Monday they will fight Texas' $14 billion state lawsuit in court and warned they will cut no more deals paying individual states for the treatment of sick smokers.
  - Sep 08 7:55 PM EDT
• Attorneys in Texas tobacco case ready: (UPI)
  Attorneys in the $14 billion Texas lawsuit against the major tobacco companies say no settlement is in the wings and they are preparing to take the case to trial.
  - Sep 08 7:18 PM EDT
• In Clinton Ritual, Key Advisers Hold Clashing Views on Tobacco Deal (Washington Post)
  Gore, by contrast, thinks there is little to be gained by a compromise, particularly if it angers many liberals, and there are political benefits to be reaped for both him and Clinton by casting themselves as implacable foes of tobacco. "Often the route there is more of a serpentine route, but he gets there."
  First found: 8 Sep 1997, 13:29 Universal Time
• Ormond couple light fire under tobacco companies (Orlando Business Journal)
  The case also names Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie as a co-defendant for selling the cigarettes to the Paxtons without warning about the effects of cigarettes. Grasseler also claims that Wamsley would punish her for missing quotas and not punish male employees for missing the same quotas.
  First found: 8 Sep 1997, 13:29 Universal Time
• New head of local lung association shuns his roots (Business Journal of Portland)
  B.J. Hall, a former Portland executive and son of a tobacco farmer, has been installed as new board president for the American Lung Association of Oregon. Hall has been on the association's board since 1992, but just recently took over the helm for a two-year term as board president.
  First found: 8 Sep 1997, 13:29 Universal Time
• Swift action by US on tobacco deal unlikely (Irish Times)
  Proponents of the deal, like the leading negotiator for Mississippi, its Attorney General Mr Mike Moore, expect the President Clinton to embrace the proposal with few additional caveats. And the political fate of the settlement could still be affected by lawsuits pending against cigarette makers.
  First found: 8 Sep 1997, 13:29 Universal Time
• Tobacco deal may be in peril (Boston Globe)
  Clinton returns from vacation this week to finalize his decision, and Congress has made it clear that the deal is unlikely to pass this year unless he quickly works to support it.
  First found: 7 Sep 1997, 19:39 Universal Time
• Tobacco chiefs in campaign firing line (Sydney Morning Herald)
  The settlement came after the State of Mississippi settled with the industry in July for $US3.6 billion ($5 billion). "We want the denials to stop now and we require as a minimum the same public admissions that have been made by parent companies in the USA," the letter states.
  First found: 7 Sep 1997, 19:39 Universal Time
• Tobacco Industry Papers Barred in Miami Trial (Reuters)
  The judge in a $5 billion secondhand-smoke trial forbade lawyers suing cigarette makers from using tobacco industry documents handed over last spring by the maverick Liggett Group cigarette company.
  First found: 7 Sep 1997, 19:39 Universal Time
• Tobacco Keeps Fighting (Washington Post)
  Most buy them in stores and get them from older brothers, sisters and friends. Does the industry's agreement to pay $368 billion indicate that it has turned over a new tobacco leaf?
  First found: 7 Sep 1997, 23:44 Universal Time
• CLINTON IS CLOSER TO BACKING THE TOBACCO DEAL, IF... (Business Week)
  A Presidential decision will be reached "within the first couple of weeks" that Clinton is back in Washington. But Lockhart noted that it is "a complicated piece of business" that will take months for Capitol Hill to review.
  First found: 6 Sep 1997, 00:32 Universal Time
• Secondhand-smoke jury hears RJR researcher's memo - He suggested in 1972 note promoting cigarettes as a drug vehicle (AP/Winston-Salem Journal)
  In the memo, first disclosed two years ago, Claude Teague proposed a ''futuristic approach'' to marketing focusing on cigarettes as ''attractive dosage forms of nicotine.''
  5 Sept 1997
• 09/15/97 SMOKE 'EM IF YOU CAN AFFORD 'EM (Business Week)
  TOBACCO COMPANIES ARE already starting to pad their war chests in anticipation of possible approval of the $368.5 billion national tobacco settlement. It is also calibrated to head off hoarding by wholesalers and ease consumers into paying more, says Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover tobacco analyst David Adelman.
  First found: 5 Sep 1997, 13:30 Universal Time
• 09/15/97 YOU BET I MIND IF YOU SMOKE (Business Week)
  The director of the Surgeon General's Office on Smoking & Health calls the report ''the single best comprehensive review of the adverse effects of environmental tobacco smoke on humans.'' ''The evidence is very strong and consistent that environmental tobacco smoke has adverse effects on human health, particularly for kids,'' says Michael P. Eriksen, director of the Surgeon General's Office on...
  First found: 5 Sep 1997, 13:30 Universal Time
• 09/15/97 ANOTHER HUMPHREY, ANOTHER CRUSADE (Business Week)
  Skip, who campaigned for his father in 1968, lost friends over the issue. Press for more information from Business Week's Archive*.
  First found: 5 Sep 1997, 13:30 Universal Time
• Senate Backs More Funds to Curb Teen Smoking (9/4) (Your Health Daily)
  ID checks are a common-sense approach in the effort to snuff out youth smoking.'' Announced in June, it calls on the tobacco industry to pay $368.5 billion to states to compensate for Medicaid payments for victims of tobacco-related illnesses and to put in place sweeping public health regulations.
  First found: 5 Sep 1997, 13:30 Universal Time
• Don't Rush to Ban Smoking in State Bars and Taverns (Business Wire)
  : "A sword is hanging over the head of California's bar and tavern industry and, unless the state legislature takes action, the sword is going to drop on New Year's Day. At the very least, we're talking about a major economic hit on establishments located near the borders.
  First found: 5 Sep 1997, 13:30 Universal Time
• No Tobacco CEO Testimony in Fla. Smoking Trial (Reuters)
  The judge in a landmark secondhand smoke trialhas blocked lawyers representing 60,000 sick flight attendants from using testimony on the health dangers of smoking given by tobacco industry leaders in another case against cigarette makers.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 19:31 Universal Time
• Farmers Face Fork in Tobacco Road (Christian Science Monitor)
  The tobacco industry is globalizing; the big manufacturers are setting up production overseas, from farms to factories. Settlement or not, the American farmers' 60-year-old tobacco program - a quota system that limits growth of tobacco and keeps its price high and stable - is being undermined by the rise in cheaper foreign tobacco. But many farmers are counting on American tobacco's reputation for high quality to maintain a certain demand.
  4 Sep 1997
• Tobacco firms' defense mirrors '77 pledge (Miami Herald)
  Associated Press Pledges by a Brown & Williamson executive in 1977 to research tobacco and his denials of any disease link to cigarettes mirror the industry's defense in a landmark secondhand-smoke trial two decades later. ``I am utterly secure in saying to you that the tobacco industry recognizes its responsibility and its duty'' to research health issues.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 19:31 Universal Time
• Tobacco sales to minors fall (Akron Beacon Journal)
  The good news is, more tobacco retailers in Summit County appear to be complying with the law than in past years. In contrast to the survey's promising results, national statistics show that smoking is gaining in popularity among minors.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 12:17 Universal Time
• Tobacco settlement faces a difficult road in Congress (St. Petersburg Times)
  Virtually no one in Congress is happy with the deal, and many are skeptical about whether it can pass. Republicans are skeptical about whether it can truly reduce teenage smoking.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 19:31 Universal Time
• SACRAMENTO -- Secondhand Smoke Bill Sent to Wilson / Exposure to cigarettes could be grounds for suit (San Francisco Chronicle)
  Approved yesterday was a bill by Senator Byron Sher, D-Stanford, that would allow people who are victims of tobacco company fraud, misrepresentation or conspiracy to sue as well as people exposed to secondhand smoke.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 19:31 Universal Time
• Senate burns cig industry (Philadelphia Daily News)
  WASHINGTON -- Reversing course by an unexpectedly large margin, the Senate dealt the tobacco industry a blow yesterday by approving the Clinton administration's $34 million request for a crackdown on cigarette sales to teen-agers. Harkin also changed the source of the $34 million for the FDA from an assessment on tobacco companies to a reduction in computer money for the Agriculture Department.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 12:17 Universal Time
• Senate Approves $34 Million to Fight Teen Cigarette Sales (Washington Post)
  In a dramatic reversal, the Senate yesterday overwhelmingly approved the Clinton administration's full request for $34 million to crack down on cigarette sales to teenagers.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 19:31 Universal Time
• The Smoking Cow (Washington Post)
  The Washington Post I realize that I may be the only one, but I am very confused by the recent tobacco settlements and the amounts of money the companies are willing to shell out so they can stay in business. As long as there are lawyers, there will be unhappy smokers, and as long as there are unhappy lawyers, there will be smokers.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 19:31 Universal Time
• Citizen First, Veteran Second (Washington Post)
  I remember free cigarettes in "C" rations, cut-rate tobacco products in the PX, smoking breaks during training. Yet I decided to take up smoking in the service anyway because I found comfort, solace, therapy and relaxation therein.
  First found: 4 Sep 1997, 19:31 Universal Time
• The Senate and Smoking Kids (ABC News)
       The House has approved $24 million for the FDA youth anti-smoking program.     “This is round two in the effort to snuff out youth smoking,” Harkin said.
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 23:14 Universal Time
• Makers boost cigarette prices as state claims take effect (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  boosted wholesale cigarette prices by about 7 cents a pack yesterday in what analysts saw as a down payment on the smoking lawsuit settlements that would cost the industry billions of dollars. Consumers could expect to pay 10 more cents a pack, or about $2.15 for a pack of Philip Morris' Marlboros or RJR's Camels, said Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst David Adelman.
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 12:28 Universal Time
• Chuck Norris' Lone Wolf Cigars Add Sizzle to the Flame (Business Wire)
  I have my Kick Drugs Out of America program, and the Bryan's House organization, working for children with HIV and AIDS, is a wonderful cause," said Norris. Bryan's House is a nationally acclaimed pediatric AIDS program located in Dallas providing "Big Care for Little Cases of Aids."
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 23:14 Universal Time
• SACRAMENTO -- State Assembly Panel OKs Bill To Postpone Smoking Ban in Bars (San Francisco Chronicle)
  ``It's bad for California, bad for worker health and bad for patron health,'' said Paul Knepprath, a lobbyist for the American Lung Association. Searches The Gate News Page The Gate Sports Page Feedback The Gate © The Chronicle Publishing Company
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 18:17 Universal Time
• Smoking Tied to Gastric Cancer (Pathfinder)
  The study findings also indicate the smoking-related increased risk for this type of cancer may not decline for as much as 30 years after a person quits smoking. These cancer patients were compared with 695 people without cancer matched to the patients' age and demographics who served as a comparison ``control group.''
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 23:14 Universal Time
• Nicotine may be listed as poison (Age, The)
  But big international sporting events such as the Australian Grand Prix will still be exempt from a ban on tobacco advertising, according to the Government's response to the Senate committee report into the tobacco industry and the health effects of smoking. The Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, yesterday warned that many of the Government's proposed moves to curb smoking would depend on...
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 23:14 Universal Time
• Minister tips tobacco sponsorship to stay (Sydney Morning Herald)
  By JODIE BROUGH in Canberra The Federal Government is unlikely to phase out tobacco sponsorship of major sporting events, such as the Australian Grand Prix, despite a recommendation to end all sponsorship by 2000. The Federal Minister for Health, Dr Wooldridge, said yesterday it would be "a great pity for Australia to lose a number of events that were of international significance" by excluding...
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 03:06 Universal Time
• Scientists Study Seductive Allure of Nicotine (9/2) (Your Health Daily)
  There, it triggers specific receptors in the pleasure center of the brain that unleash dopamine. A person is addicted when a decline in the nicotine levels in the blood results in reduced dopamine in the brain.
  First found: 3 Sep 1997, 03:06 Universal Time
• Flight attendants' lawsuit against tobacco to resume (Boston Globe)
  So far, Circuit Court Judge Robert Kaye has allowed the jury to see most of the documents that the flight attendants have wanted to introduce. Tobacco lawyers have objected to each exhibit that the flight attendants want to introduce from industry files.
  First found: 2 Sep 1997, 18:26 Universal Time
• Study links donations to pro-tobacco decision (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers who received contributions from tobacco companies were three times more likely to have voted to block spending to help states fight cigarette sales to minors, says a new analysis by smoking foes. The Food and Drug Administration has requested $34 million to distribute to states to enforce new federal rules intended to prevent tobacco sales to teenagers.
  First found: 2 Sep 1997, 13:08 Universal Time
• Study shows influence of tobacco contributions (Houston Chronicle Interactive; free registration)
  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers who received contributions from tobacco companies were three times more likely to have voted to block spending to help states fight cigarette sales to minors, says a new analysis by smoking foes. The Food and Drug Administration has requested $34 million to distribute to states to enforce new federal rules intended to prevent teen-age tobacco sales.
  First found: 2 Sep 1997, 13:08 Universal Time
• Tobacco deal key to Chiles' legacy (Miami Herald)
  With last week's historic $11.3 billion settlement with tobacco companies, Chiles probably has secured his legacy. $11.3 billion and more Chiles won not only an $11.3 billion settlement, but also a requirement that tobacco companies take down all cigarette billboards across the state.
  First found: 2 Sep 1997, 13:08 Universal Time
• State Reports Significant Drop in Sales of Tobacco to Kids Third Year in a Row; Sales From Self- Service Displays Still a Major Problem (Business Wire)
  2, 1997--State Health Director Kim Belshe Tuesday announced that illegal sales of tobacco products to minors in California have decreased 25.9 percent since last year. Overall, the percentage of stores with illegal tobacco sales was 21.7 percent in 1997, down from 29.3 percent in 1996, 37 percent in 1995 and 52.1 percent in 1994.
  First found: 2 Sep 1997, 18:26 Universal Time
• Children Who Breathe Second-Hand Smoke At Home Have Lower Levels Of "Good" Cholesterol, Study Finds (EurekAlert!)
  2 -- Children already in danger of developing heart disease because of high cholesterol blood levels face a "triple jeopardy" if they live in smoke-filled homes, according to a study appearing in today's American Heart Association journal Circulation. Children in the study were considered at high risk because of cholesterol abnormalities -- either total cholesterol above 200 mg/dl (considered...
  First found: 2 Sep 1997, 05:15 Universal Time
• Will deal on tobacco be able to help kids? (Miami Herald)
  That agreement would settle 38 other states' lawsuits now pending. According to a study by the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, seventh-graders were 21 percent more likely to experiment with smoking if they saw magazine ads and 38 percent more likely if they saw tobacco marketing in stores.
  First found: 2 Sep 1997, 13:08 Universal Time
• Clinton Urged to Stand Firm on Tobacco (ABC News)
       Clinton and Koop, a prominent anti-tobacco advocate, met briefly at Alley’s General Store, where Clinton had stopped to buy coffee, blueberry muffins and peaches.     Presidential aide Bruce Lindsey said the meeting had not been planned.
  First found: 1 Sep 1997, 23:13 Universal Time
• Tobacco deal a real drag on billboards (South Florida Business Journal)
  "We've seen the writing on the wall for the last few years," said Rosanne Marks, spokesperson for AK Media Florida in Miami. "Outdoor advertising of tobacco has been under fire for a while now, so we've done a lot of work in diversifying our business to prepare for this day."
  First found: 1 Sep 1997, 13:51 Universal Time
• Lobbyists for, against tobacco gear up for fall campaign (Houston Chronicle Interactive; free registration)
  He has held an initial meeting with administration officials to talk about it. Congress must approve the package because it calls for changes in federal law.
  First found: 1 Sep 1997, 13:51 Universal Time
• Billboard owners await tobacco fallout (Jacksonville Business Journal)
  If tobacco companies have a contract with the outdoor advertisers, the companies would have to make the billboards available to the state to provide anti-smoking messages, he said. Several calls he has put in lately to Philip Morris representatives in New York have been unanswered.
  First found: 1 Sep 1997, 13:51 Universal Time
• Let tobacco pay for schools (South Florida Business Journal)
  Lawton Chiles and his staff may think it absurd for Republican legislators to call the $11.3 billion tobacco settlement a "windfall" for the state, but that's exactly what it is. Instead, we're going to spend billions of dollars mounting an advertising campaign to try to counteract the tobacco companies' advertising campaign.
  First found: 1 Sep 1997, 13:51 Universal Time
• Bible's stand a shift or a nuance? Philip Morris chief's fatality remarks prompt divergent interpretations (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
  When Bible said smoking ''might have'' played a part in the deaths of 100,000 Americans, ''The waters parted,'' Motley said. ''It was a revelation.'' . . . By saying smoking ''might have'' been a cause of smoking-related illness, ''It was the same as saying, 'Maybe yes, or maybe not,' '' said Edward Sweda, senior attorney at the Tobacco Products Liability Project in Boston.
  August 31, 1997
• Push for total ban on tobacco in sport (Age, The)
  Already the Government is signalling its intention to toughen its anti-tobacco stance by encouraging state and territory smoking bans in public places. That report will recommend: tobacco only be sold in specialist shops, with only one in each suburb; nicotine be registered as a poison and that smoking should be banned in confined public spaces.
  First found: 31 Aug 1997, 00:26 Universal Time
• Tobacco-trial papers upset judge (AP)
  A judge grew irritated yesterday with attempts by tobacco attorneys to block jurors from seeing a compilation of industry advertising and publications in the country's first secondhand-smoke trial. ''Look, I'm not going to play this game. I really am not,'' said Circuit Judge Robert Kaye.
  August 30, 1997
• Possible Genetic Link to Lung Disease Reported* (8/29) (Your Health Daily)
  esearchers believe they may have found a genetic key that makes people more likely to develop two lung diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema. This means that people with COPD were four times more likely and that those with emphysema were five times more likely to have the slow-acting enzyme than those who did not have lung disease, the researchers concluded.
  First found: 30 Aug 1997, 13:36 Universal Time
• Passive Smoke May Cut `Good' Cholesterol in Kids* (8/29) (Your Health Daily)
  hildren with elevated cholesterol levels are known to be at increased risk for heart disease, but that risk may be even higher if there is a smoker in the home, Boston researchers conclude. Another type of cholesterol, LDL, is known as ``bad'' cholesterol because it increases the risk of heart disease and stroke when elevated.
  First found: 30 Aug 1997, 13:36 Universal Time
• Morton Downey Says He'll Sue Howard Stern (E! Online)
  He'd think nothing of blowing smoke at guests, usually to the cheers of his rowdy fans." Don't expect this to turn into a battle of the big mouths, though.
  First found: 30 Aug 1997, 03:53 Universal Time
• Kids Learn Smoking (ABC News)
      "Smoking prevention programs should begin as early as possible, and those aimed at preadolescents should target family and peer influence as well as attitudes that reinforce smoking behavior."     Forty percent said they smoked with a family member, while 46 percent got their first cigarette from a family member or at home.
  First found: 30 Aug 1997, 00:34 Universal Time
• California Amends Tobacco Lawsuit: (Reuters)
  California Attorney General Dan Lungren says he has amended the state's lawsuit against tobacco companies to allow California to seek punitive damages.
  - Aug 30 2:13 PM EDT
• Georgia files $2.78 billion tobacco lawsuit: (Reuters)
  The state of Georgia filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking billions of dollars in damages from seven tobacco manufacturers and the industry's lobbying group, joining dozens of states that have sued tobacco makers.
  - Aug 29 7:01 PM EDT
• Ga. sues tobacco firms for $8.3 billion: (UPI)
  Georgia has filed an $8.34 billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry, asking for the reimbursement of money spent on tobacco-related illnesses and injuries in the state since 1968.
  - Aug 29 6:02 PM EDT
• TABLE: Hurdles for the Tobacco Pact (Business Week)
  FDA FREEDOM: Under the existing pact, the FDA has to jump through a variety of legal hoops to regulate nicotine. DOCUMENT DISCLOSURE: Deal critics seek complete disclosure of all of the industry's internal memoranda.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 05:10 Universal Time
• FANNING THE FLAMES FOR A TOUGHER TOBACCO DEAL (Business Week)
  And coming just seven weeks after a similar agreement in Mississippi, it seemed to be a sign that the states--and eventually Congress--were inclined to support the June pact. It now seems as if it will be very difficult for Congress to finish work on the deal by then.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 05:10 Universal Time
• WHAT MAY STUB OUT THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT (Business Week)
  Their objections threaten to invalidate key portions of the settlement--and perhaps even the entire deal. Minnesota is particularly peeved because the pact would override the state's tougher laws on the licensing of retailers of tobacco and on laws requiring the industry to disclose documents.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 05:10 Universal Time
• Tobacco Negotiator Considered for US Judgeship (Reuters)
  Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, one of the key negotiators of the proposed $368.5 billion tobacco pact, is being considered for a federal appeals judgeship, the New York Law Journal reports.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 19:44 Universal Time
• Downey leaves radio show, promises to sue Stern over smoking claim (Akron Beacon Journal)
  ``He hasn't picked up a cigarette,'' Downey's publicist, Les Schecter, said Thursday. ``I appreciate Cleveland, but that's all I can say,'' Downey said.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 13:20 Universal Time
• Smoking will kill 10 million a year by 2025 (Irish Times)
  Tobacco smoking posed a growing menace to society and would claim 10 million lives a year by 2025, an international conference was told yesterday. Tobacco shared only with AIDS the claim to being a major growing cause of premature death, Ms Judith Mackay, of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, said.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 13:20 Universal Time
• Changes expected in tobacco settlement (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  The White House is working on recommendations for changes, which are expected to be announced soon after Labor Day. Public-health advocates and the administration are insisting that the FDA be given a strong and immutable power to regulate tobacco.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 13:20 Universal Time
• Proposed tobacco deal makes public skeptical - 8/29/97 (Detroit News, The)
  And two-thirds expect tobacco companies to sell as many cigarettes as ever. "It's exactly this kind of public opposition to the deal that's going to force Congress to make significant changes."
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 18:43 Universal Time
• Kids Who Smoke Follow Family Example (Pathfinder)
  Next in line, however, was ``because a family member smokes'' (45.9%), and ``because friends do'' (19.5%). In fact, they say that the negative 'social' aspects of smoking (such as the habit's effects on appearance or academic performance) were just as strongly linked to a child's decision not to smoke as health implications such as later cancer or heart disease.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 05:10 Universal Time
• Anti-Smoking Activists Blame U.S. (ABC News)
       The conference also called for an international treaty to regulate the cigarette trade and for makers to pay for smoking-related health care and environmental costs.     Smoking is blamed for 3.5 million deaths a year, and health experts at the conference said without steps to control the tobacco trade, that number could rise to 10 million by 2025.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 05:10 Universal Time
• Bill Allowing Tobacco Suits Goes to Wilson / Smokers could be reimbursed for medical costs, lost wages (San Francisco Chronicle)
  ``In the settlement is $4 billion for individuals, not for big government, not for the states, not for attorney generals but for individuals,'' said Senator Quentin Kopp, independent-San Francisco. Twice, Assembly Democrats shuttered themselves behind closed doors to decide how to handle the issue.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 18:43 Universal Time
• Judge: Jury may see stolen papers in tobacco case (Miami Herald)
  The order by Circuit Judge Robert Kaye duplicates decisions by other judges in California and Mississippi on tobacco papers purportedly stolen by a paralegal from a Louisville, Ky. The report was written by an employee of Britain's BAT Industries, Brown & Williamson's parent, and copied to Brown & Williamson's chairman.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 18:43 Universal Time
• Smoking out the big fees (Philadelphia Daily News)
  The lead attorney for a ``dream team'' of a dozen firms that fought the tobacco industry on behalf of the state figures their attorneys' fees at more than $1 billion. The state won't pay a penny of this -- and cigarette makers aren't likely to pay much of it without another fight.
  First found: 29 Aug 1997, 13:20 Universal Time
• Smoke If You Got 'em (Washington Post)
  Veterans aren't entitled to VA benefits because they have unusual medical problems but because they have problems caused by their military service. Veterans have a right to claim a service connection for tobacco-related problems because the U.S. military encouraged tobacco use as no other segment of our society.
  First found: 28 Aug 1997, 13:02 Universal Time
• Smoking Tied to Joint Decline in Arthritis (Pathfinder)
  ``The study certainly suggests that cigarette smoking accelerates the process of rheumatoid arthritis and based on that, it's likely that not smoking or stopping smoking would benefit individuals who have rheumatoid arthritis,'' said senior investigator Dr. ``So my advice to patients would be to stop smoking cigarettes to have a beneficial effect on their rheumatoid arthritis.''
  First found: 28 Aug 1997, 23:37 Universal Time
• Thank you for not dealing with the devil (San Francisco Examiner)
  If you've ever been to Eastern Europe and tried to breathe, you know there are plenty of addicts over there to pay the cost of people killed in this country. As part of their settlements, tobacco companies have agreed not to advertise to children.
  First found: 27 Aug 1997, 03:39 Universal Time
• Florida Settles Tobacco Suit - $11.3 Billion Included in Industry Agreement (National Law Journal)
  In the second and largest settlement to date between a state government and the tobacco industry, cigarette makers have agreed to pay the state of Florida $11.3 billion and to adopt a series of restrictions on advertising and sales.
  26 Aug 1997
• Congress Turns to Tobacco Cos (AP)
  I think you have to look at it in a very wide perspective,'' former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said today on ABC's ``Good Morning America.'' ``Tobacco gained a lot by not having to go through a court procedure.''
  Aug 25, 1997
• Texas, Minnesota seen next up in tobacco negotiaions: (Reuters)
  Texas and Minnesota are next up in court against Big Tobacco, making them the most likely among the states with anti-smoking lawsuits to strike multibillion dollar deals, analysts said on Tuesday.
  - Aug 26 3:09 PM EDT
• Georgia to Sue Tobacco Industry Within Days: (Reuters)
  The state of Georgia, following on the heels of Florida's $11.3 billion settlement with tobacco companies, has decided to sue the cigarette industry, officials said Tuesday.
  - Aug 26 1:40 PM EDT
• Historic Florida Tobacco Settlement Applauded By The American Cancer Society: (PRNewswire)
  Governor Lawton Chiles and Attorney General Robert Butterworth made history Monday, according to the American Cancer Society, as they announced the settlement of the Florida Medicaid Third Party Liability lawsuit against the tobacco industry in the Palm Beach County Courthouse.
  - Aug 26 10:10 AM EDT
• PA Attorney General Mike Fisher Praises Florida Tobacco Settlement: (PRNewswire)
  Calling it ``another nail in the coffin of the tobacco industry,'' Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher today praised the settlement reached by the state of Florida in its lawsuit against the nation's largest tobacco companies.
  - Aug 26 10:43 AM EDT
• Fla. Business Seeks Repeal of Tobacco Law: (Reuters)
  Two leading Florida business groups are calling for the repeal of the law under which the state filed its Medicaid lawsuit against the U.S. tobacco industry.
  - Aug 26 6:48 AM EDT
• U.S. activist says national tobacco deal a gamble: (Reuters)
  American anti-smoking campaigners would gamble away potentially significant triumphs if they accepted a proposed national settlement that would limit liability claims over the effect of smoking, a U.S. health activist said on Tuesday...Casting away the chance of potential future victories against cigarette companies was like a punter on an old-style U.S. gambling boat putting all his money on one throw, Daynard said.
  - Aug 26 9:01 AM EDT
• Pa. smokers' suit OKd as class action (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  ``We're going to be able to establish a very important fact -- judicially,'' Sklaroff added. ``We're going to be able to establish the fact that people can be addicted to nicotine.''
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 12:28 Universal Time
• Public-health groups attack Winston's ads (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  The American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and American Lung Association said yesterday that they have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the ads make an unsubstantiated health claim. Carole Crosslin, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds in Winston-Salem, N.C., denied that the ads were making a health claim, and said the positioning of Winston as a ``no-additive''...
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 12:28 Universal Time
• Where's there's smoke, there's protest (Houston Chronicle Interactive; free registration)
  "We demand evidence to substantiate the claim that these cigarettes are safer than other cigarettes," said John Garrison, chief executive of the American Lung Association. The Lung Association said removing the additives doesn't affect the nicotine that makes cigarettes addictive or the tar that is largely responsible for lung cancer.
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 12:28 Universal Time
• (California) Assembly OKs Bill to Allow Tobacco Suits by Individuals (San Francisco Chronicle)
  The Assembly passed a bill to permit California smokers to sue tobacco companies yesterday as tobacco industry lobbyists readied a measure to allow smoking in bars to continue until 2001.
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 18:17 Universal Time
• Deal may be national setback (Boston Globe)
  And that ignores the fact that more can be achieved nationally than on a state-by-state basis.'' Not only would the tougher national advertising rules supersede those in the state agreement, but the state also stands to win as much as $18 billion in payments, far more than in the state settlement.
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 18:17 Universal Time
• Industry to pay state (Florida) $11.3b, limit advertising (Boston Globe)
  All tobacco billboards will be removed, starting with signs within 1,000 feet of schools. In addition to the cash settlement, the tobacco companies agreed to remove all billboards within 1,000 feet of schools immediately, and to eliminate all tobacco billboards in the state within six months.
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 18:17 Universal Time
• Georgia to file tobacco suit (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  By Rhonda Cook, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Just hours after Florida settled a lawsuit against the tobacco industry for $11.3 billion, Georgia has decided to join the growing list of states trying to recoup money spent on medical care for indigent smokers. 15 to be earmarked for an anti-tobacco advertising campaign, $1 billion within a year and the balance within 25 years.
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 12:28 Universal Time
• Florida settles lawsuit against tobacco industry (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
  In Philadelphia, meanwhile, a federal judge Monday set a trial date for another major lawsuit against the industry. In Philadelphia, U.S. District Judge Clarence Newcomer certified a pending smokers' lawsuit as a class action Monday and set a trial date of Oct.
  First found: 26 Aug 1997, 02:55 Universal Time
• Advertising Age - Features - RJR expands test of low-smoke Eclipse (Advertising Age)
  Retailers in the Lincoln test market said RJR told them only about half the cigarette sellers there would be getting Eclipse; one retailer said he was told about 100 stores would have the smoke. RJR has struggled with issues over "lightability" of the cigarette, which the company said has been improved since the initial test began.
  First found: 25 Aug 1997, 23:23 Universal Time
• Calif. lawmakers consider a ban on smoking in bars (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  California's ban on smoking in the workplace, enacted in 1994, remains one of the toughest, prohibiting smoking in most indoor workplaces and allowing local governments to enforce even stricter ordinances. She said that was the experience of bar owners she knows in cities that tried -- and later repealed -- smoking bans.
  First found: 25 Aug 1997, 19:33 Universal Time
• Tobacco Ruling Could Curtail Client Privilege - Court's easy standard for ordering disclosure may become the U.S. rule (National Law Journal)
  Prof. Daynard says: "The fact that the Committee of Counsel apparently had the authority to veto a proposal for health research from one of the companies suggests that their responsibility was not just to defend or to assist a conspiracy, but to administer a conspiracy."
  August 25, 1997
• Smoking deaths predicted to triple (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  BEIJING -- Smoking-related deaths around the world will more than triple in the next 25 years, and no other country will feel the burden as much as China, according to new data released yesterday at a U.N.-supported conference on tobacco control. No other country in the world has as many cigarette smokers as China -- and no other country suffers as many smoking-related deaths.
  First found: 25 Aug 1997, 19:33 Universal Time
• Florida, Big Tobacco Settle (ABC News)
  Florida’s war against the tobacco industry ended today with a settlement of its multibillion-dollar lawsuit aimed at punishing cigarette companies and recovering Medicaid money spent on sick smokers.
  Aug. 25. 1997
• Florida, tobacco industry reach $11.3 billion settlement (CNN)
  Unknown to the state's lawyers, negotiators for the industry and state, including Chiles and Attorney General Bob Butterworth, hammered out the final details late Sunday, April Herrle, the governor's spokeswoman, told The Palm Beach Post newspaper.
  August 25, 1997
• Settlement puts Fla out of national tobacco pact: (Reuters)
  The settlement of Florida's Medicaid lawsuit against the tobacco industry takes the state out of the national settlement between state attorneys general and the industry, a tobacco lawyer said Monday.
  - Aug 25 9:00 AM EDT
• Fla. Settles Massive Lawsuit With Big Tobacco: (Reuters)
  The State of Florida said Monday it had settled its multi-billion dollar lawsuit against the U.S. tobacco industry for "the largest monetary concessions the industry has ever paid."
  - Aug 25 8:39 AM EDT
• Tobacco-Pact Revision Under Discussion - WSJ: (Reuters)
  U.S. and tobacco company negotiators are in talks to revise a controversial portion of the proposed $368.5 billion tobacco settlement, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
  - Aug 25 7:02 AM EDT
• China split over smoking as figures rise - 8/24/97 (Detroit News, The)
  The habit accounts for 10 percent of government's revenues, yet according to health officials, costs more than that in smoking-related diseases and fires.     The Ministry of Health says smoking-related diseases and fires cost $7.8 billion in 1993, compared with tobacco revenues of $4.9 billion.
  First found: 24 Aug 1997, 12:33 Universal Time
• `Canned testimony' makes smoking trial a long haul (Miami Herald)
  In what has turned into a trial by deposition, only one live witness has appeared in the past two weeks in the flight attendants' $5. ``I think the jury has gained a lot of sophistication in the trial, and I think they understand we do not have the power to subpoena these people,'' he said.
  First found: 24 Aug 1997, 17:21 Universal Time
• Moment of Truth (Washington Post)
  Mr. Bible's deposition offers just such a bonus: a momentary demonstration of how high a level of mendacity the society has learned casually to tolerate from the mouths of the big tobacco companies' leaders and spokesmen.
  First found: 24 Aug 1997, 12:33 Universal Time
• States opposed to tobacco tax refunds (Australian Financial Review)
  WA, Tasmania and SA have snubbed the country's major tobacco firms as the industry seeks a refund of a forecast $500 million in over-paid tax. --> Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia have snubbed the country's major tobacco firms as the industry seeks a refund of a forecast $500 million in over-paid tax.
  First found: 24 Aug 1997, 17:21 Universal Time
• No-Smoking Bars (ABC News)
       Beverly Mathis-Swanson has no doubt about what a ban would mean for her.     Moench says his smoking customers just step outside if they want a cigarette.
  First found: 24 Aug 1997, 12:33 Universal Time
• RJR chief supports warnings in Third World countries - 8/23/97 (Detroit News, The)
      "I have always believed that smoking plays a part in causing lung cancer.     Some tobacco foes have praised the executives for making the apparently damning statements.
  First found: 23 Aug 1997, 13:16 Universal Time
• Smoking Triggers Cancer-Promoting Protein (Pathfinder)
  They found that smokers who used tobacco for more than 25 years were a lot more likely to show expression of a protein called gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor on the cells lining their airways than those who had smoked for a shorter time. About 15% of nonsmokers had the protein on their lung cells, compared with 77% of those who had smoked for 25 years or more, even if they had stopped...
  First found: 23 Aug 1997, 03:28 Universal Time
• RJR chief admits cancer link - Steven Goldstone links smoking to lung cancer in deposition (CNNFN/Reuters)
  Steven Goldstone, chairman of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. said in a deposition Friday that he believes smoking contributes to lung cancer, according to a transcript.
  August 22, 1997: 11:53 a.m. ET
• Industry leader: Smoking may kill (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  Bible made the statement toward the end of 90 minutes of questioning by Ron Motley, an attorney for the state of Florida, which is suing the tobacco industry, seeking $12.3 billion to compensate for the public cost of smoking-related illnesses. Florida was the first of 40 states suing the major tobacco companies to bring a case to trial.
  First found: 22 Aug 1997, 14:26 Universal Time
• Tobacco Chief Says Product "May Have" Killed (ABC News)
       Bible answered, “I think there’s a fair chance that one would have, might have.     Public health officials estimate 450,000 Americans die each year from illnesses caused by smoking and secondhand smoke.
  First found: 22 Aug 1997, 00:18 Universal Time
• Philip Morris CEO links death, smoking (Miami Herald)
  Bible said if he were convinced cigarettes were a cause of lung cancer, he would halt production. ``I honestly think that it's about as significant as someone saying the sun might have come up in the morning,'' he said.
  First found: 22 Aug 1997, 17:46 Universal Time
• Man sues to stop wife's smoking (Chicago Sun Times)
  Richard J. Thomas, 69, said in a lawsuit that Sally, his wife of 43 years, is slowly killing him and herself with her cigarettes and that she needs to be stopped. However, a representative of the EPA's Chicago regional office said environmental tobacco smoke is not regulated by the Clean Air Act.
  First found: 22 Aug 1997, 17:46 Universal Time
• Clinton To Tobacco: Pay $50 Billion (ABC News)
       In balanced budget legislation signed by Clinton earlier this month, Republicans included a $50 billion credit to reduce the cost of the tentative $368.5 billion deal to settle liability claims.     “It’s our position that this provision in the budget legislation should not be allowed to actually reduce the cost to the industry of the...
  First found: 22 Aug 1997, 00:18 Universal Time
• Small Reduction In Adult Smoking Population Yields Big Health And Economic Payoffs, New Study Finds (EurekAlert!)
  The University of California researchers conclude that these figures justify significant investment in programs designed to reduce adult smoking. The lesson from California is that monetary savings from preventing heart attacks and strokes alone "would basically pay for th