Controlling tobacco: Don't drop federal suit

The U.S. Justice Dept. should stick with its racketeering lawsuit against Big Tobacco.

Editorial. May 28, 2001.

It's a discouraging twist in a federal lawsuit that itself is predicated on who knew what and when. The Justice Dept. has a disturbing confidential memo of its own, which was leaked to the Washington Post and the contents revealed: The government appears to be seriously considering dropping its multibillion-dollar racketeering lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

The decision whether to carry on the litigation is a major test of the Bush administration's approach toward the tobacco industry. The Justice Dept. should not stop this racketeering case, initiated under the Clinton administration and allowed by a federal judge to proceed last September.

An AMA letter, calling on Attorney General John Ashcroft to continue with the lawsuit, neatly sums up the situation: "The government has a strong case. The evidence is overwhelming that, beginning in the 1950s, the tobacco industry has deceived the American public about the health effects of smoking and the addictive nature of nicotine, marketed its products to children, and misled the public about its knowledge of these issues."

Ashcroft has said that he intends to watch the next round of judicial challenges before coming to a conclusion on the lawsuit's future. Instead, what's needed is that Ashcroft become an advocate for the litigation, now headed toward the critical discovery period and with estimated funding requirements of more than $57 million. [...]