[Intl-tobacco] New Tobacco Company, Licensed to Kill Inc., Incorporated in Va.

[Robert Weissman]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2003

New Tobacco Company, Licensed to Kill Inc., Incorporated in Va.

Aims to 'Kill 4.9M Worldwide Annually'; New Rival for Altria

RICHMOND, Va., April 17 -- The following was released today by Essential Action:

Today, Licensed to Kill, Inc, the world's newest multinational tobacco
company, publicly announced its incorporation with the launch of the
company's website: www.licensedtokill.biz

Licensed to Kill, Inc., was officially incorporated in the state of
Virginia on March 19, 2003. The company's purpose, as stated in its
articles of incorporation, is "the manufacture and marketing of tobacco
products in a way that each year kills over 400,000 Americans and 4.5
million other persons worldwide."

The name "Licensed to Kill" derives from the Latin words 'licere' and
'caedere,' meaning 'permission to kill.' The name connotes an enterprise
that is fully authorized by the state to aim for peak performance and
constant improvement in killing for profit.

The new company is banking on its brutal honesty to spare itself from
the multitude of lawsuits currently plaguing other companies within the
industry. Many of these lawsuits have centered on the tobacco industry's
long history of lies and deception about the deadly nature of the business.

Licensed to Kill, Inc. thanks the Commonwealth of Virginia's State
Corporation Commission for granting it permission to exist, noting that
the societal restrictions on serial killing luckily do not apply to corporations.

View a certified copy of Licensed to Kill, Inc.'s articles of
incorporation at: www.licensedtokill.biz/articles.pdf

For more information about Licensed to Kill, Inc., including its line of
products, visit our  website at: www.licensedtokill.biz

Contact: Anna White, 202-387-8030