WASHINGTON, D.C. June 7, 2012 The American Cancer Society and other public health groups filed notice today in federal court of Altria Inc. 's continued efforts to deceive the public about its products and marketing practices. The filing with U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler in the long-running case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against the major tobacco companies called the court 's attention to two recent Altria advertisements that ran in Capitol Hill newspapers claiming the company markets its deadly products responsibly. One of the ads, which features the headline Recognizing Our Responsibilities, claims that Altria and its tobacco subsidiaries market their products responsibly and that we take our responsibilities seriously. The other ad, titled Helping Find Solutions, makes similar claims. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, sent a letter May 23 to Altria CEO Martin Barrington demanding proof that Altria engages in responsible marketing practices, and evidence of the effectiveness of those efforts. The company has yet to respond to ACS CAN. This ad campaign is just the most recent example of a tobacco industry that views itself as being above repercussions and accountability for its decades-long record of lies and deception, said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive of the American Cancer Society and ACS CAN. Altria continues to thrive on the business of addiction by marketing to children and misleading adults about the harms of its deadly products, and now it is portraying itself to federal lawmakers as a responsible corporate citizen. The American Cancer Society and five other public health groups the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers ' Rights and National African American Tobacco Prevention Network are intervenors in the federal case, which was filed by the Department of Justice in 1999 to hold Big Tobacco accountable for more than 50 years of fraudulent and deceptive marketing practices. In a landmark opinion in 2006, Judge Kessler found the major cigarette manufacturers guilty of violating civil provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) with powerful evidence that the industry was well aware that smoking and nicotine are addictive and that they strategically market to youth. According to Kessler 's 2006 decision, the tobacco industry must make corrective statements to explain their decades of lies and dishonesty to the American public. The public health intervenors and the Department of Justice last year urged the court to require strong statements such as, We manipulated cigarettes to make them more addictive, and Smoking is very addictive. And it 's not easy to quit. As expected, the industry submitted significantly weaker recommendations. The pressing need for forceful corrective statements is further exemplified by Altria 's advertisements, which state that the company only markets its products to consumers 21 and older, works with retailers to restrict in-store promotions and communicates about the health risks of tobacco. The corrective statements, which the Court has directed to appear on TV, in newspapers, on packaging and on company websites when they are finalized, remain critical to preventing Altria from continuing to misrepresent itself and its products. Altria and the rest of the tobacco industry have a moral responsibility to be transparent about how their products are marketed and the horrific damage they cause in the form of 443,000 human casualties in this country each year, said Chris Hansen, president of ACS CAN. Court-ordered corrective statements will ensure that the public hears the truth loud and clear. The full text of ACS CAN 's May 23 letter to Altria can be found here: http://bit.ly/KJMk2i Today 's notice of filing can be found here: http://bit.ly/LeYEtx The Altria ads can be found here: http://bit.ly/KgPmdd and http://bit.ly/LmilBP ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Lauren Walens or Steven Weiss American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Phone: (202) 661-5763 or (202) 661-5711 Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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