Tobacco Industry Smoke and Mirrors On Trial

"The most important type of story is that which casts doubt on the cause and effect theory of smoking and cancer," read one internal Council for Tobacco Research memo presented by the U.S. Justice Department on the first day of the largest civil racketeering trial brought by the government. "Public relations is key," the memo continued, "to getting us out of this hole." The tobacco industry is accused of conspiring to "deceive the public about the proven dangers of smoking to protect billions of dollars in profits the industry earned from cigarette sales." Defendants in the suit are Philip Morris USA Inc. and its parent, Altria Group Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., British American Tobacco Ltd., Lorillard Tobacco Co. and Liggett Group Inc. Two now-defunct tobacco industry organizations, the Council for Tobacco Research and the Tobacco Institute, are also being sued. The government claims the conspiracy began in the 1950s, when the industry began meeting to devise a strategy to undermine reports linking smoking and lung cancer. They ended up creating what Justice Department attorney Frank Marine called "one of the most elaborate public relations schemes in history."