US court bans "light" cigarettes, but no fine for tobacco industry
Washington- A US federal judge on Thursday ruled that
tobacco companies could no longer market "light" or "low tar"
cigarettes, but refused to force the industry to pay for costly
quitting programmes.
US District Judge Gladys Kessler said the tobacco industry had
"marketed and sold their lethal product with zeal, with deception,
with a single-minded focus on their financial success, and without
regard for the human tragedy or social costs that success exacted,"
quoted by Bloomberg News.
But Kessler said she did not have the authority to order the
industry to fund billion-dollar programmes to help smokers quit - a
key demand in the case brought by the US Justice Department against
Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of Altria Group Inc.
Kessler did side with the government in its claim that low-tar
cigarettes could not be considered healthier alternatives to regular
cigarettes, therefore deciding to ban the terms "light" or "ultra-
light" from all marketing campaigns.
Shares in Altria were up more than 3 per cent in after hours
trading Thursday as the ruling seemed to pave the way for a proposed
break-up of the company, which would make it more valuable to
shareholders, Bloomberg reported.
The Justice Department expressed some satisfaction with the
ruling, saying it would have a "positive impact on the health of the
American public."
"We are pleased with the Court's finding of liability on the part
of the defendants, but disappointed that the Court did not impose all
of the remedies sought by the government," it said in a statement.
The lawsuit had been running for six years, first filed by the
Clinton administration in 1999 in an effort to reclaim the billions
of dollars expended every year on smoking-related illnesses.
