An “immense defeat.” This is how the American press described the ruling against the tobacco company Philip Morris, which, on March 21, 2003, condemned it to pay more than 10 billion dollars to Illinois consumers for advertising that light tobacco was less harmful than conventional tobacco. As the attorney who filed the class action lawsuit stated, “the evidence presented was overwhelming that light cigarettes are not only just as bad as regular cigarettes, but are even worse for the smoker.”
The case brought to light a considerable scientific literature on low-nicotine tobacco, which demonstrated the presence of other components harmful to health, or the tendency to consume more light cigarettes to increase the effect. As it turned out, less is more.
