Essay - Social Ethics — Tobacco Regulation Tobacco Deal of 1997: Social...

Social Ethics — Tobacco Regulation

TOBACCO DEAL OF 1997: SOCIAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES

*****. Who were the key stakeholders involved, or affected by the negotiations for a tobacco deal and what were their interests. To what degree were the interests of the various stakeholders met by 1997 settlement? By ***** 1998 *****?

The actual parties to the lawsuits that eventually resulted in the deal accepted ***** 1997 ***** ultimately settled in 1998 ***** the major American tobacco manufacturers, such as the American Tobacco Company, Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown &

Williamson, Liggett ***** Meyers, The Tobacco Institute, among others, and the states attorneys general of several *****, including Arkansas, Maryl*****, and Virginia.

Since the individual state law suits were settled at the federal level, it now applies to ***** interests of all 50 ********** and ***** all their citizens. The settlement called ***** initial payments totaling $200 billion to the states with subsequent payments ***** another

168 ***** paid out more gradually over 25 years. Critics point ***** that the settlement fell short of ***** is necessary to address ***** magnitude of harm caused by tobacco smoking in society. According to them, its prov*****ions are still too permissive ***** respect to its lim***** on the authority ***** the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate nicotine as a drug ***** also with respect ***** allowing certain advertising mechanisms for ***** tobacco industry that would have been prohibited under earlier versions of an agreement that was not passed by Congress earlier (NYT 1997).

2. Should the FDA regulate tobacco? What are the ***** arguments for and against involvement of the FDA in restricting or banning the sale or promotion of tobacco products?

Testimony and other evidence discovered in connection ***** the ***** ***** ***** precipitated the 1997 settlement established that nicotine content of cig*****ttes is prec*****ely controlled and adjusted for the purpose of inducing addiction rather than for taste" as previously maintained by tobacco ***** executives in congressional hearings (Lehrer 1998). ***** companies regulate ***** ***** growing specific strains ***** high- nicotine tobacco in foreign countries secured by patents granted in those countries, for large-scale importation for ***** ***** the United States; they also artificially manipulate nicotine content in other ways, such as by re*****troducing nicotine into ***** plant by- products processed into cheaper tobacco (FPO 2007). *****y also ***** patents for the process of combining ammonia and *****, because ammonia alters ***** chemical composition ***** tobacco smoke to make it more addictive in a m*****nner similar to the role of ***** in producing freebase cocaine smoke (STIC 1998).

The only argument against FDA regulation is that nicotine is not intended to treat health cond*****ion or d*****ease, but by virtue ***** ***** way nicotine is used to alter human behavior with respect ***** nicotine consumption, tobacco products should be regulated ***** the FDA. Th***** is especially true in light of the massive and uncontroverted evidence of the magnitude of medical harm ***** financial cost to society of treating the k*****n health