Spring 2000- Number 24
Complete issue 

Feature Article

Will the Tobacco Settlement Payments Go Up in Smoke?

In December 1995, Massachusetts attorney general Scott Harshbarger filed a civil suit against the tobacco industry. The Commonwealth’s lawsuit charged that the tobacco industry had conducted research into the addictive properties of nicotine and used this research to willfully manipulate the nicotine level of cigarettes in order to addict smokers and increase cigarette sales. The lawsuit asked the court for damages to compensate the Commonwealth for expenditures paid to treat smoking-related illnesses. At the time this litigation was filed, Massachusetts was the fifth state in the nation to bring such a lawsuit, behind Mississippi, Florida, Minnesota, and West Virginia.