‘Light’ smokers seek billions in damages: Suit contends companies allegedly promoted belief lights were safer

Article today on cnn.com — ‘Light’ smokers seek billions in damages: Suit contends companies allegedly promoted belief lights were safer:

    U.S. smokers spent as much as $200 billion over more than threedecades buying “light”
    cigarettes under the false belief they weresafer than regular smokes, an attorney in a
    potential class actionlawsuit argued on Wednesday.

    But attorneys for tobacco companiescountered there was no way to tell how many people
    relied on suchclaims in choosing “light” cigarettes.

    The arguments were made in a hearing in a federal lawsuit that accusestobacco
    companies of violating racketeering laws and defraudingcustomers into thinking
    “light” cigarettes were safer than regularbrands from 1971 to 2004, when the lawsuit
    was filed.