Template:1999JanMSA

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1999 Jan In his State of the Union Message, President Clinton announced that the federal government would sue the tobacco under the Racketeer Act (RICO). 1999 Sept 22 A Civil Action in US District Court for the District of Columbia [On this day] the United States brought this massive lawsuit against nine cigarette manufacturers of cigarettes and two tobacco-related trade organizations. The Government alleged that Defendants have violated, and continue to violate, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 1961-1968, by engaging in a lengthy, unlawful conspiracy to: deceive the American public about the health effects of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke, the addictiveness of nicotine, the health benefits from low tar, "light" cigarettes, and their manipulation of the design and composition of cigarettes in order to sustain nicotine addiction."[1]

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The tobacco industry was still fighting over the terms of the Master Settlement Agreement and the conditions imposed by the settlement of the RICO case many years after. There's a 16 page document that illustrates the legal minutia that allowed them to escape many of the substantial penalties. It mentions the CEHHT, IAPAG, ARIA, IAI and its successor ISBE, Tobacco Document Center, etc. They were as slippery as a snake in avoiding many of the MSA requirements. [2]