JUDICIAL APPROACHES TO TOBACCO CONTROL - THE 3RD WAVE OF TOBACCO LITIGATION AS A TOBACCO CONTROL MECHANISM

Tobacco products liability litigation is one of the most potentially e ffective means of controlling the sale and use of tobacco. Recent fact ual developments-concerning (I) the addictiveness of nicotine, (2) tob acco industry knowledge of this addictiveness, and (3) the industry's efforts to conceal its knowledge from the public while making its prod ucts more addictive-make it unlikely that the tactics used successfull y by the tobacco industry in the first (1954 to 1973) and Second (1983 to 1992) waves of tobacco litigation will succeed in the third wave o f tobacco litigation. Victory in any of these cases would result in a transfer of costs from injured states or individuals to the tobacco in dustry. Such a transfer of costs would likely have the immediate impac t of raising cigarette prices and thereby lowering cigarette consumpti on. The long-term effects of a victory would probably be much more dev astating to the industry.