Washington, November 16, 2005—Today state attorneys general sent letters urging Hollywood movie studios to insert anti-smoking public service announcements in all DVDs and videos. In response, the Competitive Enterprise Institute calls on Hollywood and state attorneys general to warn consumers about the dangers of the multi-state tobacco racket.

In 1998, state attorneys general and Big Tobacco formed a tobacco cartel as part of the biggest settlement agreement in history. In exchange for $240 billion paid by major tobacco companies and their consumers, states agreed to protect Big Tobacco from smaller competitors.

“If state attorneys general are going to lean on Hollywood to promote an anti-smoking message, they should also warn consumers about an addictive threat—the $240 billion tobacco racket that hooks state governments on tobacco revenues, undermines democracy, and enriches trial lawyers,” said Sam Kazman, CEI’s general counsel.

“Right after the anti-smoking announcement, all movies could feature an announcement warning Americans against phony lawsuit settlements that do more to fill state coffers and help tobacco companies than to improve public health,” said Kazman.

Of the billions of dollars states have so far received from the tobacco settlement, they’ve never spent more than 5 percent of it on tobacco control programs, according to an annual survey by the General Accounting Office. Instead, most of the money has been spent on budget shortfalls and health programs unrelated to treating sick smokers.

Meanwhile, trial lawyers who worked on contingency contracts during the state tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s walked away with an estimated $13 billion windfall.

Thirty-two state attorneys general sent a letter to Hollywood film studios on Wednesday regarding the anti-smoking PSA initiative. The AGs involved represent Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.