Cigarette Companies Subject To New Regulation In The Making For Over 20 Years
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With so much focus on e-cigarette and vaping pen companies in the news, traditional cigarette companies have fallen off people’s radars. But the Justice Department has not forgotten them. It has finally reached the final step in a decades-long back and forth.
In 1999, public-health advocacy and anti-tobacco groups joined forces to file a lawsuit against cigarette companies. They filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. And the court found in favor of the coalition.
Cigarette companies were found guilty of “defrauding consumers about the health dangers associated with cigarette smoking,” according to CNBC. The ruling included a series of requirements the companies needed to follow. However, due to a series of subsequent litigation measures, it has taken the Justice Department over twenty years to see them through.
One of the primary demands of the court was that the cigarette companies publicly display the health risks of partaking in their products. The companies involved in the lawsuit include R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Philip Morris USA Inc., four ITG Brands-owned companies, and Altria. And the first step they took was to add warning labels to everything.
Any consumer paying attention in 2017 would have seen brand-new warning labels appear on cigarette packaging, print ads, television commercials, and company websites. Now, retail establishments have to add a similar warning. Cigarette companies will fall under the order starting July 1, 2023.
All the approximately 200,000 retailers with merchandising agreements with the companies will feel an impact. The contracts will need amending. And the required signage must get sent to all retailers within six months of the start date.
“The retail signs will be ‘designed to be eye-catching’ and will include warnings such as ‘Smoking cigarettes causes numerous diseases and on average 1,200 American deaths every day’ and ‘The nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive and that cigarettes have been designed to create and sustain addiction.'” Retailers must display the signs for at least two years. However, this last court order from the original lawsuit took some time to gain the necessary traction.
The Justice Department faced multiple appeals from the cigarette companies. Unfortunately, those appeals fell short. The parties finally reached an agreement in May 2022.
For its part, the Justice Department is happy with the news. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said, “Justice Department attorneys have worked diligently for over 20 years to hold accountable the tobacco companies that defrauded consumers about the health risks of smoking.” However, once this two-year clock on the retail signs runs out, the cigarette companies won’t have a watchdog peering over their shoulder anymore.
Except for Altria. That company continues to receive bad news. It is the part owner of Juul Lab, which produces e-cigarettes.
And Juul Lab has fallen under intense scrutiny over the last few years for its own deceptive practices. For example, Juul settled a lawsuit concerning its marketing practices earlier this year. It targeted kids in its marketing campaigns to entice the younger generation.
