The signs will be installed in stores between July 1 and September 30, and must be displayed until June 30, 2025. The signs must be in English and also Spanish in regions where there is a significant population of Spanish speakers. The 17 distinctive statements were “specified by the court many years ago,” according to a press release from a consortium of anti-smoking groups. It applies to Altria and its Phillip Morris US subsidiary, RJ Reynolds and ITG Brands.
The defendants lied “about the devastating health effects of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke, they suppressed research, they destroyed documents, they manipulated the use of nicotine so as to increase and perpetuate addiction, they distorted the truth about low tar and light cigarettes so as to discourage smokers from quitting, and they abused the legal system in order to achieve their goal – to make money with little, if any, regard for individual illness and suffering, soaring health...