OneWorld.net (U.S.)

SAN FRANCISCO, Sep 30 (OneWorld) - Health groups are rejoicing this week after a federal judge in New York gave the go-ahead to the largest class action lawsuit in U.S. history. Smokers of "light" and "low tar" cigarettes are suing tobacco companies, accusing them of fraud, and are seeking up to $200 billion in damages.

The plaintiffs allege tobacco companies knew years ago that smokers tend to smoke light cigarettes harder, taking deeper drags and smoking more cigarettes. The cumulative health effect, they say, is the same as regular cigarettes: an increased risk for disease and death. "It's time that we start holding them accountable for this fraud," Cynthia Hallet of California-based Americans for Nonsmokers Rights told OneWorld. "The tobacco companies knew and withheld information about the health effects of 'light,' 'low tar,' and 'natural' cigarettes and that they were seemingly less hazardous, but in fact they knew from their own research that they were not only damaging to smokers but to nonsmokers as well (through secondhand smoke)." In his ruling Monday, District Judge Jack Weinstein echoed health advocates saying, "the claim is that the carcinogenic and other adverse effects smokers sought to avoid were not reduced by smoking 'light' rather than other cigarettes; that defendants knew this was the case; that they concealed this fact; that they urged plaintiffs--through advertising and other public statements--to smoke these 'lights' knowing smokers were being misled." Tobacco companies, including U.S.-based Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds, have vowed to appeal the ruling. Regardless, the days of "light" and "low tar" cigarettes on the shelves of American stores are likely to be over. That's because of a court victory by the federal government in a separate, racketeering case last month. In that case, Judge Gladys Kessler found America's largest tobacco firms had violated racketeering laws in a conspiracy stretching back to the 1950s, during which they had sought to maximize profits while deceiving smokers about the extent of their research into health risks associated with cigarettes. The tobacco companies' response to Kessler's ruling surprised many observers. Rather than contesting her findings, they asked for a clarification: if they stopped selling light and low tar cigarettes domestically, could they continue to market them abroad? "It's an absolute outrage that they want to be able to do overseas what they're not going to be allowed to do in the United States," said Ross Hammond, organizer of the Global Tobacco Control Policy Framework, which combats cigarette smoking worldwide. "They have absolutely no shame," he added. "I think they're just counting on people not paying attention." "Only an industry that has survived for 50 years by deceiving the American public on a continuing and regular basis would have trouble complying with an order that tells them to simply tell the truth," Matthew L. Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement.

"What part of 'tell the truth' don't they understand? The tobacco companies evidently think that they should be allowed to deceive people overseas about the dangers of cigarettes even though they have been told to stop doing so in the United States." International export and production of light and low tar cigarettes are a key growth area for American tobacco giants.

Bung An Ritthiphikvee, coordinator of the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Tobacco Control Alliance, told OneWorld that international tobacco companies have been more aggressive than government cigarette manufacturers. "It's very clear that the main product of the state tobacco company of Thailand is for adult men," she added. "They don't target women or children. But right now you see the international brands provide a greater variety of choice," she said. "You don't only see red Marlboro, you see light Marlboro, low tar Marlboro and every other variety of Marlboro." In response to the inundation of foreign cigarette advertising, Thailand's Health Ministry implemented its own ban on light and low tar cigarettes last month. The measure has no enforcement provision, though, and since Thailand's government was just overthrown in a military coup it may take some time to implement.