Massachusetts reaches $600 million settlement with Altria, British American Tobacco and others

Massachusetts reaches $600 million settlement with Altria, British American Tobacco and others

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has reached a $600 million settlement with major tobacco companies such as Altria and British American Tobacco for marketing tobacco products to teenagers. This is the largest settlement in the state's history, aimed at holding these companies accountable for the damage to public health and strengthening the protection of young people from tobacco marketing.

 

According to Boston on August 14, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has reached a $600 million settlement with major tobacco manufacturers, which is the largest settlement in the office's recent history.

 

The state's Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a statement,

 

"For decades, major domestic tobacco manufacturers have been pushing smoking products to young people. This settlement is evidence of our continued efforts to hold these companies accountable because their actions have caused irreparable damage to public health and safety."

 

The statement pointed out that the deal involves disputed funds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, when major tobacco companies agreed to stop marketing products to children and pay billions of dollars to states to compensate for medical expenses caused by smoking.

 

The settlement involves subsidiaries of several tobacco giants, as follows:

 

Philip Morris USA (subsidiary of Altria)

 

Japan Tobacco International USA, Inc. (subsidiary of Japan Tobacco International)

 

Imperial Tobacco Limited/ITL (USA) Limited (subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco)

 

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (subsidiary of British American Tobacco, R.J. Reynolds is a company acquired by British American Tobacco in 2017)

$600 million will be paid to the federal general fund this fiscal year, and the company will continue to pay additional amounts each year thereafter.

 

This agreement follows the $462 million multi-state settlement reached by e-cigarette company JUUL last year, of which Massachusetts received $41 million.

 

Since the MSA agreement was reached in 1998, Massachusetts has received hundreds of millions of dollars in payments from major tobacco companies each year, but some manufacturers have withheld part of the funds in the annual payments, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in disputes.

 

The Attorney General's Office said the current settlement resolves annual disputes for the past seven years and speeds up the resolution of other disputes. In addition to the $600 million payment, the companies are also required to withhold less money in future years, which means Massachusetts will receive higher annual payments in the future.

 

Here are some of the tobacco companies that participated in the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA):