Tobacco.org

Tobacco companies refusal to pay at end of '04 puts growers 'in a pinch' 

Tobacco growers are being squeezed between the government's plan to phase out a 1930s-vintage price support system and cigarette makers' refusal to pay millions under an agreement tied to a master settlement of anti-smoking lawsuits with 46 states...

"A lot of that money has already been spent, and here they come and say you ain't going to get it," said Bob Koehler of Ripley, vice president of the Ohio Tobacco Growers Association. "That puts a lot of boys in a pinch."

The four major tobacco companies contend that under terms of an amendment to the Phase II agreement, they don't have to make the final payment of 2004 and are entitled to a refund of payments made earlier in the year.

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