Legal

State

Minnesota Supreme Court derails tobacco lawsuit (MN)
The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected an eleven year old lawsuit against Philip Morris that claimed that the company had fraudulently marketed Marlboro Lights as being safer than regular cigarettes. In its decision, the court said that this suit was precluded by the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement where tobacco companies were ordered to pay large sums of money to states to cover health costs from cigarette usage. This ruling is a rare win for the tobacco industry in Minnesota, as there are few cases that they have won there in recent years. Click here to read more about this case.

Ohio can finally collect $2.3M in fines (OH)
The Ohio Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that it will uphold the law passed by voters in 2006 that banned indoor smoking in public places or places of employment. State and local officials are seeking to collect nearly $2.3 million in unpaid smoking ban fines. Ninety percent of the fines collected are allocated to local health departments. In the upcoming weeks, officials will focus on enforcement of the ban and ways to collect the unpaid fines. State and local health departments have received 62,303 reports of violations since the inception of the law. To read more about this story, click here.

State judge blocks roll-your-own cigarette taxes (WA)
The roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco industry has filed a lawsuit against officials in the Washington State Department of Revenue and Liquor Control Board over a measure that would tax RYO tobacco at the same rate as cigarettes. This lawsuit is in response to the passing of House Bill 2565, which would begin taxing RYO cigarettes like other cigarettes starting on July 1. The claim is that many businesses would fold if their products were taxed at the same rate as cigarettes, and that the industry would take a hard hit. The RYO companies hope that this lawsuit will cause the state Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the regulations placed on RYO retailers. A Franklin County Superior Court Judge awarded the companies a preliminary injunction that postpones the enforcement of the tax. Click here to read more about the lawsuit, or click here for details about the injunction.

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International

All provinces now have a lawsuit in the works (Canada)
All Canadian provinces are suing or have stated that they plan to sue big tobacco companies. The provinces are suing to recover healthcare costs for smoking, and their decisions are based on the win by 48 U.S. states against tobacco giants in 1998, in which they were paid $206 million over 25 years in a settlement agreement. The provinces hope to win financial compensation from the tobacco companies for the damages to citizens’ health as a result of smoking. Click here to read more.

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