What are the tobacco companies giving up? What are they gaining?
The main thing that the tobacco firms want to eliminate is uncertainty. Throughout the current controversy, share prices have been adversely affected and there is a great deal of uncertainty about the future. Business analysts believe that stock prices will stabilize, even increase, when an agreement is reached. To achieve that goal, tobacco companies have been willing to voluntarily give up their First Amendment right to advertise (see question 8). According to an advertisement they ran in major newspapers on March 11, 1998, the industry will also gain clear regulations about what it can and cannot do. Payments of legal judgments against them will be capped at $6.5 billion each year. Claims for past misdeeds will be barred. Lawsuits will be barred against people other than tobacco manufacturers.
