Battle against tobacco not for courtroom
We sympathize with John Maloney and millions of others who have lost loved ones to cancer caused by cigarettes.
But it’s harder to sympathize with the idea that they should be awarded damages by juries in part because the smoker was unaware of the risks.
Smokers have won big damage awards, and also seen some of them thrown out later for various reasons.
That’s the case with Maloney and more than 100 other Lee County residents among thousands of plaintiffs, whose $145 billion damage award was thrown out. The 700,000 parties to the class- action suit were directed to file individual suits.
Among the issues will be whether smoking probably caused the victims’ diseases and whether they were aware of the dangers.
We believe tobacco is addictive and a deadly danger. And tobacco companies have over the years concealed evidence of its harm.
But U.S. surgeon generals’ warnings about the dangers of smoking have been required on tobacco packaging for more than 40 years. Tobacco advertising has long been banned on TV and radio, and the dangers of smoking have been a continuous topic of public debate.
People who smoked through those years cannot credibly claim to have been unaware of the serious risk. They made a bad choice.
It’s better for society to concentrate on helping people make better choices, through education and anti-tobacco advertising, such as that planned under the newly revived Florida youth smoking campaign.
So long as tobacco is legal, this is the way to go.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080212/OPINION/802120340/1015
