Legality of suing tobacco companies

[elaine12]

Just watched an episode of Boston Legal where a family was suing the tobacco company for the death of their father and was wondering what this community of people trying so hard to quit smoking and most succeeding feel about this. I for one take complete responsibility for my actions, but just curious how others feel or stories you might have. I have a mom and step-dad who died from cancer, and they both smoked, but neither died from Lung cancer.

[Abby3]

I am just adding to my earlier post to clarify some thoughts and chime in on the things that have been said since it.
After re-reading my post I realized I sounded more like a victim than I wanted to convey. I know that I have responsibility for not taking hold of this addiction earlier.
I only spoke about the little kid in me that I remember…
I was just speaking to the fact that young kids were and still are preyed upon and I think that it is okay for government and big tobacco to be held accountable for that.
As smokers, we defended our smoking addiction for so long to those non-smokers in our lives that we didn't (or still don’t) even know what is true anymore.
It is my opinion/experience that we told ourselves all these things about smoking in defense. Somehow it is okay because it relieves stress, or it helps me concentrate, or it relieves boredom, or, on and on. We have said these things out loud and to ourselves for so many years, that some don't ever doubt these things, even in their quits.
You forget that you actually had NO CHOICE in becoming addicted. Yes, you do have a choice in quitting. But none of us signed up to be addicts. You didn't realize that all these defenses or excuses were lies. And that the truth is, cigarettes caused the symptoms they so-called relieve. They don't relieve stress - they cause stress by an almost immediate withdrawal cycle. They don't help you concentrate - it's withdrawal that causes distraction. On and on. These are my opinions and everyone might not sign up for this way of thinking. But this is what I believe and find helpful to think about.
I'm okay with being angry with big tobacco for their part in finding myself here. I would much rather focus on other things though. And I have found it very satisfying to help others get to where I'm at.
And I just want to say that I wholeheartedly agree with Connie in that it would be a great society where one thing helped address the ramification of its own reality. but sadly, in America, as we all are being made aware of hourly these days. It's about big money. Big Tobacco, Big Banking, Big Pharma, Big Whatever, period. In order for the money to go to the people tobacco has hurt the most, the government would have to be the one to press the case. Not likely seeing as all the Bigs in this country are currently in the back pocket of our government (again, just an opinion).
Why shouldn't families who are carrying debt upwards of 500-600K or much much more after supporting a parent through end stage lung cancer and death get assistance from the companies that put them there? Why should they go bankrupt so tobacco can keep profiting? That's all I'm saying.
I would love universal health care. I pay thousands of dollars a year just ‘in case’ I need to use a doctor....and don't. I would be okay in paying that in taxes....rather than paying the 'tax' to health insurance and also paying the tax to the government that is supporting the uninsured.
Okay, never mind....this site is about quitting smoking...not politics. And as you probably have surmised....I'm not so good about talking politics.
So in summary, I'm not litigious and not saying I think anyone should 'take advantage' (heh) of the tobacco companies. I just know that they are being held accountable in some cases and was shouting out that I was okay with that.
It is about taking responsibility. It is about making a choice. I agree. But sometimes the people hurt by tobacco aren't the people who made the 'choice' to smoke and/or be addicted to cigarettes. If you (anyone) can honestly say that you were educated about what you got into and still made the choice to smoke anyway, then that’s great. I just am not that person. I got sucked into it. And have hated it almost from the start. Every day of the past 20+ years has been my quit date. And I have quit for periods of time many many times. This is it though. I’m finished. And that is all I’m screaming. 🙂
best,
a

[edith2]

I'm a cab driver, and I have noticed that alot of the local gas stations make bank on the sale of their cigarettes. It's more convenient, the lines aren't as long and one gas station manager told me that the majority of his sales other than gas is cigarettes. Even more so than beer. It's all about money. The tobacco companies like us to stay addicted to make money. Even though they support programs that help people quit, so they say. I've tried to find their website and I couldn't find it. It's a multi-billion dollar industry that kills alot of people each year. I don't know the exact number. However, there are more strict rules about smoking being established and that's good news to me. The apartment complex I live in is a "non-smoking community." No one is allowed to smoke on the property, even in their own apartment. I used to dread flying because there is hardly anywhere at the airport you can smoke anymore. I can understand why people want to sue the tobacco companies and many have done so. That's why there are the warning labels on the pack. They are just trying to cover their butts, so to speak. I totally agree with your opinion of being responsible for your actions. Alot has changed since I was a kid. They stopped advertising cigarettes. People don't smoke on TV. If there is smoking in a movie, the movie gets an "R" rating. So there is progress being made. With sites like this and internet access, I hope to see a worldwide trend and that someday it will be "cool" not to smoke.

[rj_]

Man I gotta throw in my .2 worth.
Yes, I got hooked at 8 by stealing my dad's, was buying my own at 12, dad quit about then, I was hard core addict at 21 through current.
Yes cigarette adds, adults smoking, cool slogans, peer pressure all had an effect on the original smoke decision. Untill I was about 16, then I can then take responsibility for the remaining years.
Anyone who has been in an industrialized nation in the last 20 yrs or so, has had access to know smoking is addictive and kills, no one put a gun to my head and made me continue untill I decided not to any more.
If I kick off tomorrow or live to be a hundred who gets credit/blame?
Best revenge is educate as many as you can starting with kids.

[talulattdh]

I don't think I've ever seen a cigarette ad in my life that was geared toward children and young adults. Maybe that just means I'm young (YAY!).

I'm a huge fan of James Dean, and I get a calendar full of pictures of him every year. I have since I was 17. Of course, at this point, I've seen pretty much every picture ever taken of him. I started noticing last year that whoever publishes the calendars have started Photoshopping the cigarettes out of his hands and mouth. My first response was, "WHAT THE F**K?!" Actually, that's still my response. I didn't start smoking because some rebel who died almost 25 years before I was born did. I won't even go into the wrongness and violation I feel as a patron of art . . . What are they thinking? Do we all think he *didn't* smoke like 4 packs a day? Do we all think that because the cigarettes are conspicuously missing from the dead icon's hands, people will no longer want to smoke? Are we really that stupid? No, we're not, but *someone* thinks we are. And that someone is the same type of person who would try to sue a manufacturer for producing temptation. Perhaps we should sue Hollywood for glamorizing sex. Teenagers have sex too, did anyone know about that?

Sh*t happens. People make mistakes, often in their youth. We can fix those mistakes, or belly ache about them. As Dostoevsky said, "Volition is the manifestation of the whole of life."