The Florida Supreme Court lifted a cloud over the tobacco industry Thursday when it refused to reinstate a crushing $144.8-billion class-action verdict that had been overturned by a state appeals court. The long-awaited ruling came in the landmark Engle class-action case, filed on behalf of up to 700,000 Florida smokers who blamed tobacco-related illnesses on an industry conspiracy to hide the risks and addictiveness of smoking. (Los Angeles Times, Friday)
They only had about 350 years' notice: Have you not reason then to be ashamed and to forbear this filthy novelty, . . . a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.
–King James I of England, lt;brgt;A Counterblaste to Tobacco, 1604
FEE Timely Classic
I Never Dream of Nicotine by Ted Roberts