Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: California Judge Finds R.J. Reynolds Guilty of Marketing to Kids in Violation of 1998 Settlement Agreement.Business Editors WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2002 The following is a statement of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids President Matthew L. Myers: In a case of national significance, California judge has fined R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company $20 million for targeting California kids with magazine advertising in direct violation of the terms of the 1998 tobacco settlement with the State of California. The court's decision proves that the tobacco settlement agreement has teeth and that the judicial system is prepared to enforce the agreement that the tobacco companies made with the states. The court also ordered RJR RJR R.J. Reynolds RJR Thorny Skate (FAO fish species code) to take all "reasonable" steps to stop advertising aimed at kids. Today's ruling is a stinging condemnation of RJR's irresponsible advertising practices and demonstrates that RJR has willfully willfully adv. referring to doing something intentionally, purposefully and stubbornly. Examples: "He drove the car willfully into the crowd on the sidewalk." "She willfully left the dangerous substances on the property." (See: willful) violated its promise not to market to kids. We congratulate California Attorney General The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of the government of the state of California in the USA. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (California Constitution, Article V, Section 13. Bill Lockyer William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer (born May 8, 1941) is the current State Treasurer of California. Prior to this, he served as California's Attorney General and head of the Department of Justice for the U.S. state of California. for his leadership in seeking to aggressively enforce the provisions of the MSA (Metropolitan Service Area) An urban area with at least 50,000 people plus surrounding counties. There are 306 MSAs and 428 RSAs (rural service areas) in the U.S. MSAs and RSAs are used to allocate cellular licenses. aimed at stopping the tobacco companies from marketing to kids. This ruling should spur other State attorneys general to aggressively pursue any violations by the tobacco industry of the settlement's prohibition on "any action, directly or indirectly, to target youth." Since the 1998 settlement, there has been growing evidence that the tobacco industry has systematically violated both the spirit and the intent of the prohibition on targeting youth through continued advertising in youth-oriented magazines, convenience stores The following is a list of convenience stores organized by geographical location. Stores are grouped by the lowest heading that contains all locales in which the brands have significant presence. , and other venues effective at reaching kids. Just yesterday, the Massachusetts Department of Health released a study showing that since the settlement, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . has greatly increased its advertising in publications with high youth readership despite promising not to do so. This ruling sends a message to the U.S. Department of Justice that the evidence of continued tobacco industry marketing to kids is strong and the Justice Department should aggressively pursue its lawsuit against the tobacco industry. The ruling also underscores the necessity for Congress to pass strong legislation giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration full authority to regulate the tobacco industry and stop Big Tobacco from continuing to target our kids. |
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