Today's revelations that Philip Morris executives had suppressed internal company information on the addictive properties of nicotine, combined with the recent settlement of some lawsuits against tobacco companies, may mean that "at long last, tobacco companies are going to be held to the same standards of accountability as are all other businesses," declared Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan, president of the American Council on Science and Health.
ACSH has long held the position that the key to limiting the pandemic of tobacco-related diseases lies not in additional government restrictions, but in simply ending the blanket protection from regulatory and legal action that tobacco companies have enjoyed ever since Congress imposed a warning label on cigarettes in the 1960s. "For decades, cigarette companies have not only been exempt from the oversight of such agencies as the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but have had a teflon-like protection against all forms of litigation brought against them," noted Dr. Whelan. "Now, it is becoming increasingly clear that the tobacco companies have been engaged in fraud and deceit as to the effect of their product-fraud that would have been punished years ago if it had been carried out by any other industry. As recently as two years ago, tobacco CEO's swore under oath before Congress that cigarette smoking was not addictive and nicotine levels were not being manipulated. We are now learning that even while they were saying this, they were fully aware of these risks.
"It is interesting to note that last August, when President Clinton attempted to 'crack down' on smoking by imposing new regulations, the price of cigarette stocks didn't bat an eyelash; yet this morning those same stocks have dropped precipitously. Ultimately, holding tobacco companies liable for the consequences of their product will transfer the costs of smoking from the general population to the cigarette companies and to smokers. These litigation settlements and fines will gradually mean higher prices for cigarettes, which will mean fewer smokers, and fewer young people picking up this deadly habit.
"It should be stressed that the events of the last few days do not represent a 'witch hunt' against a politically incorrect product, as the tobacco companies and their apologists will surely claim. They merely represent a leveling of the playing field-making cigarette companies play by the same rules as everyone else, and making the cost of cigarettes better reflect the costs they inflict on society. That's how a truly free market works."