[Intl-tobacco] British Columbia sues tobacco industry again (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

British Columbia sues tobacco industry again
by Allan Dowd
Source: Reuters, Wednesday, 1/24/01

 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The first Canadian
province to sue the tobacco industry, British Columbia on Wednesday
renewed its legal battle seeking damages for the cost of treating
smoking-related diseases.

The lawsuit, modeled on legal claims made against the industry in the
1990s by U.S. states, accuses the industry of knowingly distributing a
dangerous product and says the ``health catastrophe caused by smoking
cannot be overstated.''

The complaint, filed in British Columbia Supreme Court, was nearly
identical to a lawsuit the province filed against the industry last year.
A judge rejected that suit on constitutional grounds because of the way it
classified defendants in seeking damages.

The lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount in damages, but the
province has claimed that its public health care system spends about C$500
million ($334 million) a year to treat diseases such as lung cancer and
emphysema.

Named are Canada's leading cigarette makers, British American Tobacco's
Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.; Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc., a unit of
Philip Morris International Inc.  and Rothmans Inc.  ; and JTI-Macdonald
Corp., owned by Japan Tobacco Inc. .

The suit also seeks damages from other units of the international parent
companies and from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco International Inc., which sold
RJR-Macdonald to Japan Tobacco. The Japanese company is not named in the
suit.

The suit filed on Wednesday names fewer international corporate divisions
within the industry than the original action, which was rejected when a
judge ruled the province had overstepped its bounds on whom it could sue.

The province has used industry documents made public in lawsuits filed by
more than 40 U.S. states in the late 1990s against the U.S.  cigarette
makers, and it accuses the companies of targeting young smokers.

``By the 1950s, the tobacco companies knew, or ought to have known, that
smoking cigarettes can cause disease in smokers and that the nicotine in
cigarettes is addictive,'' the province alleges in the 53-page statement
of claim.

The province also alleges the industry lied by claiming there was no
evidence that smoking caused diseases.

The cigarette industry has attacked British Columbia's damage estimate for
health care costs and denounced its earlier lawsuit as a ``cash grab.'' It
has noted that the province earns substantial tax revenue from cigarettes.

An industry representative has scheduled a news conference for late on
Wednesday to respond to the new legal action.

British Columbia is the only plaintiff in this lawsuit, but Manitoba and
Newfoundland have said they support the action. Ontario also sued the
cigarette industry, but its case was filed in U.S. courts and dismissed.

($1 equals $1.51 Canadian)