The American Spectator

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Special Report

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Few expect the tobacco companies will have to pony up the $280 billion, but the threat of "injunctive relief" by the court could arguably be deadly. The restrictions the tobacco companies have already submitted to with the MSA do not go far enough for the feds.

The Justice Department wants a court-imposed ban on cigarette vending machines. It wants marketing terms that give smokers "false impressions" about the dangers of smoking (e.g., "low tar," "light") eliminated. It wants more funds available to help people quit smoking, over and above the millions the tobacco industry has already committed.

And there will likely be more. The government isn't willing to specify when enough will finally be enough. "It's hard to talk rationally about a case I don't think was given a lot of rational thought," Philip Morris lawyer William Ohlemeyer sighed during a recent briefing on developments in the case, which goes to trial this September.

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