Company Settles Suit Over Distributions
California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer announced a $171,000 settlement of a lawsuit accusing U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. of illegally distributing free product samples on public grounds where minors were present.
The suit said the company, a subsidiary of UST Inc., twice violated state law in 1999 when it gave out samples at the Placer and Alameda county fairgrounds. Under state law, tobacco samples may be distributed only at sites where access by minors is prohibited.
Officials of the company, which markets Copenhagen and Skoal brand snuff, could not be reached for comment.
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