A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it

leaves one unsatisfied. What more could one want? (qtd. in Hilts, 102).

Statistics show that there have been 1.1 billion smokers in the past 90 years, making it the most widespread addiction in the world. Those smokers make up 47% of the men and 12% of the women out of the whole world population (Tobacco to 21). The age a person starts smoking is getting lower every year and, in lots of countries, including America, kids are already smoking regularly at age 15. Also, more than 400,000 Americans die each year from smoking, making it the most preventable cause of premature death. In fact, one in every five deaths in the United States is caused by smoking (Tobacco Stats).

The reason these statistics are important is because there is an ongoing controversy over whether or not the tobacco companies should be held responsible for injuries or deaths due to smoking. They are being blamed for deaths among smokers in the last half century. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against the companies claiming that the companies failed to warn the consumer of the dangers of smoking, but there has yet

While cigarettes are dangerous products and they do indeed cause a great deal of death and disease every year, they are not the only products in existence with these possible consequences. Plenty of companies make good money selling goods and services that carry serious risks, such as 130-proof whiskey or cars that can travel three times the legal speed limit. Excessive alcohol use can cause your liver to deteriorate, cause ulcers and also cause cancer of the esophagus, among other things. It can even cause death (O’Keefe). Yet you don’t hear about lawsuits being filed against Jack Daniels. We also don’t hear about the family of a Corvette owner suing Chevrolet because he got killed trying to take a turn too fast (Chapman).

t dealing with the problem of smoking, addiction, and health.

Another reason some claim that these lawsuits are not justified is because smokers choose to smoke. The assumption in most discussions is that smokers are “helpless slaves to their addictions” (Chapman). While it is proven that smoking can create physical dependence, 1.2 million Americans still manage to quit smoking every year, and two-thirds of the people who have ever smoked no longer do (Chapman). By using the word “addiction” so much, people tend to forget that the smoker began smoking of their own free will. They smoke because they value the satisfactions of smoking more than they fear its hazards. The point is, the war on the tobacco industry is also a war on the right of individuals to choose – and the obligation of those individuals to be responsible for their own actions.

g the past century has tobacco smoke been inhaled on a regular and continuous basis by a large portion of our population (Whelan, 28). The 1800s were an exciting period for tobacco in the United States. It was in this century that the use of snuff gave way to continued use of pipes and increased popularity of cigars. Toward its end, the cigarette emerged as the new champion in tobacco (Whelan, 35).

injuries. . . . Tobacco law is a defendant’s dream come true” (Whelan, 1984, 154).

While outcomes of this sort are not uncommon, the verdicts could come out quite differently as well. In April of 1999, the family of a man from Portland, Oregon, who died of lung cancer in 1997 was awarded $81,000,000, the largest ever verdict in a smoking liability case. The jury found Philip Morris at fault in the death of Jesse Williams, a retired custodian for the Portland school system. Williams reportedly smoked three packs of Marlboro cigarettes for over 40 years. His widow, Mayola, and his six adult children were awarded $79,500,000 in punitive damages and $1,600,000 in compensatory damages, a record sum. Philip Morris announced that it would appeal the verdict, which they did successfully. It should be pointed out that the industry has thus far prevailed in the appeals of all such jury verdicts (Jet). Donald Warner, the Associate Dean at Southern Illinois School of Law, said, “The cigarette industr

Some topics in this essay:
Tobacco Stats, School Law, Drug Administration, Companies Justified, Virginia Slims, Co Liggett, Jack Daniels, Kip Viscusi, Jesse Williams, Slims True, tobacco companies, litigation tobacco, philip morris, lung cancer, dangers smoking, smoking tobacco, tobacco industry, lawsuits tobacco companies, lawsuits filed, century tobacco, litigation tobacco companies, don’t hear, tobacco companies justified, died lung cancer,