The Surgeon General first concluded that cigarettes cause cancer and other diseases in its historic 1964 report.
From 1976 to 1993, six independent studies found smoking accounted for between 6% and 8% of U.S. healthcare costs, which amounted to more than $50 billion in 1993.
To recover these costs, states began to sue the largest cigarette manufacturers, Philip Morris, Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard.
In 1998, 46 states, four territories along with Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, entered into a Master Settlement Agreement with the cigarette manufacturer.
It was the largest civil litigation in U.S. history.
Still to this day, each year cigarette companies pay each U.S. state and territory a lump sum, culminating in a total payout of almost $7 billion annually.
It has been an enormous source of tax revenue for the governments.
Post-pandemic, governments are going to require new "alternative" sources of tax revenue.
The politicians will appear to try to pay back some of these multi-trillion-dollar stimulus packages. |
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