Tobacco Talks Back On Track, Deal Possible

Tobacco settlement talks, which had been dangerously close to collapse, got back on track Wednesday with the possibility of a proposed deal being reached as soon as Thursday, a key negotiator said.

In a roller coaster week of negotiations, state attorneys general threatened to walk away from the bargaining table on Tuesday when cigarette makers refused to give in to key issues.

The parties had been close to a deal as late as last week until the industry stiffened its resolve to fight certain provisions including regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.

The states highest legal officers are demanding that the industry agree to be punished for past actions, that it pay compensatory and punitive damages for smoking-related injuries and that it agree to allow the FDA to regulate cigarettes as a drug delivery device.

We have made progress on the three issues, Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore told reporters at a briefing early Wednesday evening.

He said the states would keep working through the night and into Thursday, adding, Maybe we will have something for you by tomorrow afternoon.

He said he thought the attorneys general could get the three demands taken care of.

We havent given an inch, he said.

Although Moore had appeared angry and frustrated on Tuesday, calling the talks very rough and contentious, he struck a more optimistic chord after discussions all day at a Washington hotel on Wednesday.

Today has gone very smooth for us, he said.

Moore said state attorneys general did not want to abandon the talks because the tobacco industry had made important concessions on health-related issues.

The attorneys general are not going to walk away from future generations of our children, Moore said.

Florida Attorney General Robert Butterworth said he felt there had been a change of attitude by the tobacco companies, which have been balking at FDA regulation and punitive damages.

They do not want to leave the table...there was a reality check, he said.

State officials and cigarette makers began negotiating in early April to resolve massive litigation in exchange for funding of personal injury claims and public health concessions. These include curtailment of advertising that appeals to children, industry penalties if underage smoking does not decrease and much stronger warnings on cigarette packages.

Forty states have sued the industry to recoup Medicaid costs of treating smokers. Negotiations have been pressured because the first of these trials is scheduled to begin on July 7 in Mississippi.

The White House has been monitoring the talks and any settlement would need approval from President Bill Clinton and Congress before it can be implemented. State officials have been shuttling back and forth between a Washington hotel and the White House all week, keeping Clinton advisers informed.

The White House role is one of actively monitoring, of understanding better the nature of the dialogue, understanding better the nature of the settlement that they are trying to reach, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Wednesday.

Asked if Clinton would step in if the talks were to break down, McCurry replied, I see nothing that suggests to me that the White House will become a party to the negotiations.

Meanwhile, some top public health officials again expressed concern over a possible settlement. They are worried the states will agree to terms that do not include enough new restrictions on cigarettes and nicotine.

I remain very concerned. I still dont see any reason to rush to a settlement, American Lung Association official John Garrison told a meeting of anti-smoking groups.

Separately, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. sued the Federal Trade Commission, contending the agency engaged in politically motivated harassment in its effort to ban the companys ads featuring the Joe Camel cartoon character.

The suit, which came as the settlement talks considered imposing tough new restrictions on cigarette advertising, was filed on Tuesday in federal court in North Carolina. The FTC charged last month that the ads illegally promoted cigarettes to kids. R.J. Reynolds is owned by RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.