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Pastimes : All Clowns Must Be Destroyed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: wlheatmoon who wrote (15450)	3/8/2000 10:04:00 PM
From: pater tenebrarum	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42523

re: tobacco law suits, i believe there's one very important class action suit that is still in progress in Florida. the damages sought go into the 100ds of billions, and that has spooked the market. however, the stocks are priced as if the suit had been lost already. past experience shows that even the suits that are lost, get thrown out on appeal. just look at the judge's comments in the third party suit: one of the arguments cited is that 'public awareness of the dangers of tobacco has existed for about 100 years'. if that gets to be the fashionable way to look at this by the courts, you can forget about all future suits. litigation in the US has assumed ridiculous proportions. i think a societal backlash is looming, and the courts may actually start to do their bit to curb some of the excesses. lets not forget that big tobacco is by far the biggest taxpayer in the U.S. who'd really want to kill the golden goose? as for my own view, yes tobacco is both a dangerous and habit forming product. but it is not beyond an adults capabilities to just say no...<g>