Capitol Hill, Up In Smoke Essay, Research Paper

Count 1: The executive officers and members of the boards of the multinational cigarette companies are indicted for conspiracy, or preparation of a common plan to execute the substantive crimes enumerated in counts 2,3,4. Count 2: These executives officers and members of the boards of the multinational cigarette companies are indicted for deliberate, willful violation of traditional norms, laws and rules of commerce and social contract. Count 3: These executive officers and members of the boards of the multinational cigarette companies are indicted for crimes against peace and criminal aggressive acts against persons. Count 4: The executive officers of the boards of the multinational cigarette companies are indicted for crimes against humanity; for deliberate atrocities rather than innocent but culpable errors. These four counts were the basis for the case against cigarette manufacturers abroad, brought against them at the first of civil law suits known as The Nuremberg Trial. Though it was the first to go to trial it was the beginning of a whole new era of headaches for cigarette manufacturers around the world. An era that would finally prove that cigarette manufacturers; through manipulation and lies, have deceived the American public, and thus are responsible for the pain they have caused to unknowing smokers, and second-hand smokers alike. It is no new news that cigarettes are addictive. It would also be no surprise if I told you that the nicotine in tobacco is very addictive. The smoke inhaled from a cigarette delivers a strong hit about two milligrams in each one of nicotine, a compound the U.S. Surgeon General in 1988 deemed an addictive drug. But is nicotine alone what hooks people on tobacco? Recent studies just might answer this question. Scientists ran brain scans on smokers and abstainers and found that smokers had 40% less of a brain enzyme knows as monoamine oxidase B, or MAO B. The enzyme breaks down dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain associated with feelings of pleasure. “Every substance that is addictive leads to an increase in dopamine levels in the brain. A drug may leave an imprint in the brain, so that the next drug becomes more pleasurable than it would otherwise.” Thus, smoking appears to create a self-perpetuating cycle: less MAO B leads to more dopamine, leads to more pleasure, leads to less MAO B and so on. “Dopamine is crucially important in reinforcing and motivating behavior.” By increasing the dopamine levels, one is creating a sense of bliss; similar to that of the leaf eaters of Homer s Odyssey. Though smokers understand the risks of smoking, their own biochemical makeup keeps them from making the right decisions decisions that are potentially life threatening. Each year, smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 430,700 American lives each year. They are directly responsible for 87 percent of cancer cases and cause most cases of emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is also the leading cause of death in Males between ages 65-72. Smoking costs the united states approximately $97.2 billion each year in health-care costs and lost productivity in America s work force. For these reasons exactly the United States Government feels it has the right to fight to get that money back. Monday, 16 March, 1999. The Justice Department asked for $20 Million to launch its civil lawsuit against the Tobacco industry. Attorney General Janet Reno said most of the money would be used to pay for forty attorneys who would press the civil case. The lawsuit is intended to recover smoking-related medical costs incurred through Medicare, Veterans Administration and military base hospitals, Native American medical programs, and the Federal Employee Health Benefits program. In speaking about the case one senior official said the government will have to prove the tobacco manufacturers committed a tort such as fraud, negligence, or nuisance. The Federal Government had very little chance to do so, for an unprecedented settlement between Cigarette Manufacturers and the United States Government was reached on 20 June, 1998. The settlement, $368.5 billion over 25 years, was the largest to be reached and covered the expenses of 40 states. Before this unusually large settlement, many states took the civil cases into their own hands. Florida, the earliest state to sue, reached a settlement in August of 97. They announced on 25 August, 1997 that they reached a settlement for $11.3 billion with tobacco companies. The lawsuit is aimed at punishing the industry and recovering Medicaid. Florida s settlement is larger than Mississippi s $3.6 billion settlement reached on July 3 as well as Minnesota s $6.6 billion settlement.Washington, the latest state to put the tobacco industry on trial, accuses cigarette makers of a 45 – year conspiracy to hide the truth about smoker s health risks. Opening statements were heard on Monday March 16, where two lawyers, hired by Washington State, said that not until secret documents became public four years ago did anyone realize how much the tobacco industry had deceived the public of the health risks of smoking. “Their (tobacco industry lawyers) goal was confusion. Their goal was to give an excuse to the smoker, that “well maybe it isn t so bad as these people say it is.” “They are not tobacco companies. They are drug pharmaceutical companies, and they have lied about their true nature for years.” He also contended the tobacco companies have lied since 1953, the same year scientific research was first reported to link smoking to cancer. “In December 1953 cigarette manufacturers worked out an agreement not to develop a safer cigarette.” In the 1970 s and 1980 s, Ligget&Myers , maker of L&M cigarettes spent millions on what it believed was a safer cigarette. Its tests on mice were encouraging. A former tobacco company lawyer says his company s work on a safer cigarette was killed when competitors found out. “They could reduce tumors 88 percent overall and the could reduce 1100 percent of cancerous tumors,” said former Liggett&Myers attorney Laurence Meyer. “The competitor was just concerned that this project was idiotic and it would be ruinous for the industry and it would be ruinous for Liggett.” The tobacco industry denies any such conduct as well as saying that there s no proof the research findings on mice would have translated into a safer product for humans. They point out even the federal government would have been reluctant to allow any cigarette maker to advertise its product as safer. “The idea they didn t want a safer cigarette on the market is

ludicrous,” said tobacco industry spokesman Steve McCormick. “Those companies, all of them, worked for years, spent tens, hundreds of millions of dollars trying to develop a safer cigarette.”On the other side of the court the tobacco companies are expected to argue that Washington State itself has been a willing partner in cigarette sales since the state licenses them and collects 83 cents on every pack sold, amounting to millions of dollars in tobacco taxes each year. This logic is ludicrous; one cannot be persecuted merely because they pay taxes. Now the tobacco battleground is shifting back to Washington, D.C., as the Senate prepares to consider a $516 billion that many people say could bankrupt the tobacco industry. The recent attack on the tobacco industry is not only causing large flows of money for the government but for individuals as well. Just recently 60,000 flight attendants sued the tobacco industry for $5 billion; this is the first time that cigarette manufacturers have acknowledged the damage caused by second-hand smoke. In this case unlike the ones pressed by smoker s, the tobacco industries lacked an important defense that the ones stricken ill, chose to smoke. “This might well open the door to a lot of other lawsuit by other workers that are traditionally cooped up. Those that are in factories and restaurants and theaters and casinos who ve had to have a constant diet of second hand smoke.” Along side of individuals suing the industry there is an opening for stock investors as well. Twenty-five percent of Americans smoke a number that is unlikely to get much lower even though the anti-smoking climate is the strongest it has ever been . Abroad, when stigma is less and the risk of litigation is not a factor, smoking rates are much higher. This presents a unique opportunity for investors, so long as they are willing to be patient and have nerves of steel. The stock worth of the tobacco industry is so low because of the scare caused by all the law suits constantly being flung; eventually there will be no one left to press charges and the industry will get back on its feet. If you are willing to gamble then you have a chance of winning big in the end. “The stocks tumbled on March 18, when three former Philip Morris employees alleged that tobacco companies manipulated nicotine levels. Together the blows knocked tobacco stocks down by more than 10%, costing share holders $15 billion.” These unbelievable drops are making very many people nervous about the well being of the industry; and has caused a lot of people to get very rich. In a time of corruption, deceit, and degradation; cigarette manufacturers seem right at home. Their purposely harmful tactics, and greedy disrespect for human life has caused the industry to be set in front of the firing squads of America s courts. Through lawsuits, class actions, and settlements it has become painfully obvious that cigarette manufacturers are inherently responsible for the pain and harm they inflicted on unknowing smokers, and on victims of second-hand smoke cigarette manufacturers profited off of this and it is time they accept responsibility.