The Brazilian state of Rio filed a suit in July, which is now pending in a Texas court. Lindon said those courts have ruled that third party claims should be dismissed because of a lack of direct injury. An Arkansas State Department of Health survey found that 43 percent of students in grades 9-12 use some form of tobacco. Sixty percent have tried tobacco products and another 14 percent are at risk of trying tobacco products for the first time. Most smokers become addicted as minors, when they are too na ve to resist the tobacco industry s multibillion-dollar marketing campaigns.
Most smokers try to quit and fail.
The justice system is society s last chance to protect itself from the relentless tobacco industry. Dr. Andy Parrott, a psychologist at the University of East London and author of the study, calls the paradox the whipsaw effect of addiction. The regular smoker needs nicotine to maintain normal moods and suffers from unpleasant feelings of irritability and tension between cigarettes when his or her plasma nicotine levels are failing.