Blowing smoke
Americans’ obsession with punishing tobacco firms is wrong-headed, and an obstacle to rational debate about illegal drugs
EVEN the judge could hardly believe his eyes. “A lot of zeros,” he chuckled. True enough: this was the largest civil-damages verdict in history. After a two-year trial, a Miami jury decided on July 14th that America's largest tobacco companies should pay $145 billion—yes, that's billion, not million—in punitive damages to thousands of Florida smokers for damaging their health. The jurors chose this staggering amount to send a message that could not be ignored.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Blowing smoke”
From the July 22nd 2000 edition
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