Tobacco.org

LETTER: SWEDA: Cigarette makers also responsible 

In your recent editorial "Man responsible for smoker's death got the message, " Jan., 12, you state that a "people that cherishes freedom of choice as much as Americans do must understand that along with choice comes responsibility for the results of those decisions."

I fully agree with that statement.

However, the conclusion of that editorial - that smoker's widow who sues a tobacco company should not receive any payment whatsoever for the lung cancer death of her husband, -- is flawed precisely because you are unwilling to hold those who work for a tobacco company to the same standard of bearing responsibility for one's actions. . . .

the evidence presented to the Brooklyn injury in this case demonstrated that Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. fraudulently concealed from the public what they knew about the hazards of smoking back in the 1950s and 1960s prior to the time for the warning labels on packages and conspired with other cigarettes companies to hide that information. On Jan. 9, the Brooklyn jury, which was outraged by what they leaned about Brown & Williamson's reprehensible corporate misconduct, rendered a punitive damage award of $20 million. The jury's courageous decision upholds the principle that all people, including those who sell, glamorize and profit from a deadly and addictive product, should be held accountable for their actions.

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