Senator: Lawmakers must stop "light'' labels on cigarettes

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers must move quickly to keep tobacco companies from continuing to label cigarettes as "low tar" and "light" following a landmark federal court ruling that said several major tobacco companies have conspired to mislead the public about the health hazards of smoking, an anti-tobacco senator said Thursday.

New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg called on his Senate colleagues to back the court ruling that banned the use of cigarette labels such as "low tar" and light." U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler here said those labels are misleading. Tobacco companies are appealing.

"A court of law found that big tobacco lied to the American people, and ordered them to stop its deceptive marketing," Lautenberg said. "Now big tobacco's lawyers are trying to drag the case out in court. That is why we need to move quickly on this stop gap measure now."

Lautenberg introduced the 'truth in cheap cigarette labeling' act Thursday that would ban the use of the labels. The bill has no GOP co-sponsors. Other Democratic co-sponsors included Hillary Clinton of New York, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Robert Menendez of New Jersey.

Lautenberg cited an internal memo written in 1975 by Philip Morris that he says shows the company was misleading the public. The memo, which was provided to The Associated Press, said a study conducted by the company showed that people smoking Marlboro Lights cigarettes actually inhaled more tar than if they had been smoking regular Marlboros.

The company did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

In regard to Kessler's ruling, tobacco companies have said they will lose customers to smaller cigarette manufacturers who weren't part of the civil suit filed by the Justice Department. The defendants are: Philip Morris USA Inc. and its parent, Altria Group Inc.; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.; British American Tobacco Ltd.; Lorillard Tobacco Co.; Liggett Group Inc.; Counsel for Tobacco Research-U.S.A.; and the now-defunct Tobacco Institute.

The only discount cigarettes online maker excluded from Kessler's ruling was Liggett. Kessler credited Liggett with coming forward in the 1990s to admit smoking causes disease and is addictive, among other things.

Lautenberg is one of the Senate's biggest tobacco opponents. In July, he introduced a bill to ban the sale of all tobacco products at sundry shops in the Senate complex. And he wrote the law banning smoking on commercial airlines.