Smoke and mirros?

Law School hosts debate over ‘so-called’ tobacco settlement

Health, legal and political experts from around the country will discuss implications of the proposed national settlement with tobacco companies Oct. 15-17 at the UW–Madison Law School.

The three-day conference is titled “The So-Called Global Tobacco Settlement: Its Implications for Public Health and Public Policy.”

“As Congress and President Clinton debate the settlement reached this summer and consider further legislation, we thought it was a good time to look at what’s good, bad, indifferent and not included in the settlement,” says Gerald Thain, professor of law at UW–Madison and a conference organizer.

Attorneys general from 40 states reached a settlement with tobacco companies on June 20 that calls for the companies to pay $368.5 billion in damages over 25 years and pay $15 billion a year thereafter. The settlement would also raise the price of cigarettes to help curb teen smoking; subject tobacco companies to fines if teen smoking is not reduced by 60 percent in 10 years; allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate nicotine as a drug; and ban many forms of cigarette advertising.

Congress and President Clinton must approve the settlement, and congressional leaders and Clinton are currently debating the merits of the agreement. Clinton has proposed his own plan to strengthen the settlement that focuses on reducing teen smoking, giving the FDA full authority over tobacco regulation and protecting tobacco farmers from lost income.

The conference’s six sessions will examine health issues, regulation and free speech concerns, liability issues, foreign impact, economics and implications for civil justice.

Speakers include William B. Schultz, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for policy; Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle; and Michael Fiore, director of UW–Madison’s Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention.

The conference is administered by the Law School’s Institute for Legal Studies and is funded by the Law School and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Tobacco Policy and Research evaluation program.