It has now been almost 7 years since the infamous Minnesota Tobacco trial that has been credited with "turning the tide" in the war on smoking. The trial sought to forcibly "reimburse" Minnesota for the health-care costs associated with smoking... even though those costs have been refuted numerous times, even by the Congressional Research Service, an independent research arm working for the U.S. Congress.

The trial was a power and money grab. Minnesota Attorney General "Skip" Humphrey used it as a launching pad for a gubernatorial campaign (which failed), as did Mike Cerisi, lead attorney (also failed), but the publicity and extorted money was the impetus that allowed a few organizations to profit greatly from their war against tobacco companies... and all smokers... and that gave those organizations the funding to perpetrate the smoking bans in the Twin Cities area and around the state.

Regardless of your feelings about smoking, it is important that we all understand how this anti-tobacco war has progressed and largely succeeded. What has happened has never been and is not now the "will of the people", but it is a war waged by an ever-expanding number of groups eager for financial gain. In order to succeed, they have obliterated the truth, demonized smokers, corrupted justice, and erased property rights. The precedents set by the war against smoking will eventually reach not just smokers and bar and restaurant owners, but every one of us. High from success against smoking, those corrupted groups have turned their greed toward others, using the same vicious tactics.

Following is an article I wrote in June of 1998.
Are my warnings of 7 years ago not becoming reality?

The Outrageous Minnesota Tobacco Trial

Last month, 6 tobacco companies met their match in Minnesota. Although these companies had never lost a suit that had gone to a jury, they accepted a $7 billion settlement rather than trust a rigged jury of Minnesotans.

The settlement was widely publicized as evidence of wrongdoing... an admission that they were guilty. Regardless of your attitude on that score, here are some tidbits about the trial, as reported in Liberty magazine:

Tobacco company attorneys wanted to argue and present evidence that smokers incur no more health expenses than non-smokers; Judge Fitzpatrick refused to allow them to make that argument, even though there is considerable evidence available in support of that position.

The state based it's claim of damages due to smoking on a statistical model which contained obviously bogus charges... having nothing to do with smoking at all. Judge Fitzpatrick accepted the model.

Tobacco company attorneys were not allowed to refuse jurors who openly expressed hostility toward the tobacco industry, but Fitzpatrick barred at least one who admitted that she thought that warnings on cigarette packaging informed smokers of the risks they assumed.

In short, the trial was rigged, perhaps to force the tobacco companies into a settlement. We'll never know what the jury verdict would have been, but the spectacle in the courtroom evidently convinced the tobacco companies that they could not trust a jury of Minnesota citizens.

In addition to the $7 billion, other extorted penalties include:

Banning all tobacco branded merchandise and promotional item... hats, t-shirts, etc.

An agreement not to market directly to people younger than 18... undefined, but may well mean the complete end of tobacco advertising in Minnesota.

An agreement to stop paying movie producers for featuring cigarettes and smoking in films, anywhere in the nation.

Remember, this trial was for the State of Minnesota and Blue Cross/Blue Shield to recover excess medical expenses they claim to pay due to smoking-related illness. Specifically, the defense was not allowed to present evidence to counter that claim.
 
I remind you that, even using the government's own claims that "smoking causes early death", that smoking "causes lung cancer", which usually results in a quick death... it's a simple calculation to prove that smokers actually have lower health expenses than non-smokers. Based on smokers' supposed early deaths, they cost far less in Social Security and Medicare benefits... completely aside from the enormous governmental income from taxes on cigarettes.

Make no mistake... that trial was no example of justice; it was a kangaroo court... a staged trial worthy of Stalin's Soviet Union, designed to extort huge amounts of money from commercial businesses, for selling product that is still perfectly legal, and even subsidized by the Federal government.

Our State government, which has had 6 straight budget surpluses, has found one more set of suckers to fleece besides it's own citizens... any industry that produces a product that can, in any way, be considered harmful may now consider themselves subject to the same treatment.
 
Stand by, fast-food chains, to pay for selling food that's not nutritious.
Stand by, liquor distillers, to pay for addictions, accidents, and whatever.
Stand by, gun manufacturers, to pay for crime.
Stand by, auto manufacturers, to pay for auto accidents.
Stand by, drug companies, to pay for addictions and side effects.
Stand by, coffee companies, to pay for caffeine addiction.

Is television to be held responsible for couch potatoes and kids zoning out?
Are computer manufacturers responsible for carpal-tunnel syndrome treatment?
Will fertilizer companies be held responsible for homemade bombs?

Tobacco has been the first witch-hunt... it certainly won't be the last.
Minnesotans will be historically judged as having set a new standard of blatant disregard for constitutionality and justice... a whole state blamed for the acts of a very few politically-greedy individuals, urged on by groups who will now reap the financial rewards.

We've been shamed.