Florida Governor Signs Tough New Anti-Tobacco Legislation

Gov. Lawton Chiles signed a law Thursday touted as the nation’s toughest anti-tobacco measure, giving Florida new legal tools to sue tobacco companies for the costs of caring for Medicaid patients stricken by smoking-related illnesses.

The move came just days after Mississippi sued 13 cigarette manufacturers seeking to make them reimburse taxpayers for the cost of smoking-related illnesses.

“We’re going to take the Marlboro man to court,” Chiles said. “With this law, Florida sends a loud and clear message to the tobacco giants that they will be held accountable for sponsoring sickness and death.”

Walker Merryman, a vice president of the Tobacco Institute, which represents the nation’s cigarette makers, said he knew of no similar state law.

“This bill cheats thousands of Florida businesses and legitimate products out of the right to evidentiary protection and defenses,” the institute said in a statement.

If the law is not repealed in next month’s special legislative session, the tobacco industry will challenge its constitutionality, the institute said.

The law, which takes effect July 1, enables the state to file class-action lawsuits against tobacco companies, holding them individually and collectively liable for smoking-related health care costs paid by taxpayers. Officials say the state has spent $1.2 billion in Medicaid funds treating poor people with smoking-related diseases since 1989.

Traditionally, individual plaintiffs suing tobacco companies have had to show a direct link between physical harm and the company’s tobacco. Under the new law, the state would be able to use statistics about smoking to show the link.

“It’s taxpayer money we’re going to try to get back,” Chiles said. “It’s being used to subsidize the profitability of some of the largest conglomerates in the country.”