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8-12-2024 9:40pm
MA Reaches Historic $600M Settlement with Major Tobacco Manufacturers
Darlene Cancell
Editor
In the largest settlement in Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO) history, major tobacco manufacturers will pay $600 million to the Commonwealth's general fund this fiscal year, and pay tens of millions of dollars in the years ahead.
The settlement stems from the AGO resolving seven disputes that concern a contractual adjustment that some manufacturers used to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars of funds due to states under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with major tobacco companies. Under the MSA, the manufacturers agreed to stop marketing their products to children, cease other harmful marketing practices, and pay states billions of dollars each year to offset medical expenses caused by smoking. Under the MSA, Massachusetts has received hundreds of millions of dollars for past and ongoing smoking related medical costs.
Through this settlement from enforcing the MSA, along with the $600 million payment to the Commonwealth, the companies are also required to withhold less money in future years based on a contractual adjustment in the MSA.
The AGO notes that the MSA has led to a decrease in smoking, especially among young people. It led to a drop in cigarette consumption in the United States by over 50 percent from 1998 to 2019, and a drop in regular smoking among high schoolers from 36.5 percent in 1997 to 6 percent in 2019.
“The country’s major tobacco manufacturers have pushed smoking products to young people for decades – and this settlement is evidence of our ongoing commitment to hold these companies accountable for their actions that caused irreparable harm to public health and safety,” said Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell in a press release. “I am grateful to my team whose dedicated efforts over the course of many years secured these funds.”
"Big Tobacco used harmful and misleading marketing practices for decades and undermined public health," said Governor Maura Healey. "I was proud to work on this case as Attorney General and congratulate Attorney General Campbell and her team for holding manufacturers accountable and delivering this historic result for the people of Massachusetts."
In April 2023, the AGO announced that Massachusetts would receive $41 million of a $462 million multistate settlement against JUUL for its role in the nationwide youth vaping epidemic. The AGO states that addressing nicotine use, including e-cigarettes, among youth is a priority.
Thanks to the Massachusetts Office of Attorney General for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.
