But state prosecutors said the order would have no effect outside North Carolina. Matthew Myers, lawyer for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, a leading anti-smoking group, called the settlement historic. Liggett's admissions, he said, also bolstered the case of the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the tobacco industry. The agency is now battling the industry in federal court in Greensboro, N.C., over the right to restrict cigarette advertising and marketing that appeals to teens. Nat Walker, spokesman for R.J. Reynolds, defended his company's historic view that tobacco has not been proven to be addictive.
Some people say jogging is addictive.
In addition to the lawsuits filed by the states, there are 15 to 20 class-action suits and 500 claims by individuals in U.S. courts, according to the Tobacco Products Liability Project in Boston. Documents of research shared by the entire industry . For that reason, it is not clear whether the documents will greatly add to the case here. The four bigger tobacco companies, whose stocks plummeted on Wall Street, lashed out at Liggett's LeBow. Staff writer David Shaffer contributed to this report.