Tobacco companies, lawsuits, light cigarettes, fraud

[A18]

Should tobacco companies have to pay damages for false or deceptive advertising of light cigarettes?

Discuss.

[A18]

It's a class action lawsuit.

Damages--and punitive damages in particular--are always arbitrary, so I'm not sure where that gets us.

Of course, the critical moral question is, what would the consumers have done in the absence of the deception? A cynic like me has to say they probably buy normal cigarettes. How much weight does one place on a marginal increase in safety?

But the inquiry is contrafactual, and difficult enough to determine on a case-by-case basis.