U S Smokeless Tobacco Co

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer announced a $171,000 settlement of a lawsuit accusing U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. of illegally distributing free product samples on public grounds where minors were present. The suit said the company, a subsidiary of UST Inc., twice violated state law in 1999 when it gave out samples at the Placer and Alameda county fairgrounds. Under state law, tobacco samples may be distributed only at sites where access by minors is prohibited.

A growing number of anti-smoking researchers and public health advocates are adopting a tack that not long ago would have been considered heresy: suggesting that hard-core smokers who can't kick the habit would be better off switching to new smokeless tobacco products.

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. has withdrawn a request asking the government to say whether it is OK to state in ads that its products are safer than cigarettes. In a letter to the agency last week, the nation's largest maker of moist snuff said it does not want the Federal Trade Commission to weigh in now because new information is likely to emerge from two tobacco conferences scheduled for September and October in Europe.

California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer announced a $171,000 settlement of a lawsuit accusing U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. of illegally distributing free product samples on public grounds where minors were present. The suit said the company, a subsidiary of UST Inc., twice violated state law in 1999 when it gave out samples at the Placer and Alameda county fairgrounds. Under state law, tobacco samples may be distributed only at sites where access by minors is prohibited.

The largest smokeless tobacco company is violating a 1998 legal settlement by targeting children in its ads, lawmakers who cited a study by Massachusetts health officials said. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. spent $9.4 million last year on advertising in magazines that have substantial numbers of young readers, up from $3.6 million in 1997, according to the report by the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program.

A growing number of anti-smoking researchers and public health advocates are adopting a tack that not long ago would have been considered heresy: suggesting that hard-core smokers who can't kick the habit would be better off switching to new smokeless tobacco products.

Four top U.S. tobacco companies have agreed to pull cigarette and smokeless tobacco advertisements from newsmagazine editions geared at schoolchildren, state attorneys general said Monday. They said Philip Morris USA Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. would remove ads from hundreds of thousands of school editions of U.S. News and World Report, Time and Newsweek distributed weekly to high schools and middle schools.

Question: I'm concerned about my shares of Altria Group Inc. What is the latest outlook? Answer: It is no secret that the U.S. cigarette industry is in a long-term decline because of the health risks of smoking. Its sales could be hurt by a Food and Drug Administration mandate for more-graphic health warnings on cigarette packs that takes effect in October 2012. Potential litigation and increased taxation could cut into earnings. But Altria, which last year earned $3.2 billion on revenue of $23.6 billion, remains a powerful firm that appeals to many investors because of its commanding industry position and regular dividend as well as the unlikelihood that any new tobacco rivals will emerge.

Philip Morris Cos., the world's largest cigarette maker and a major food products company, slashed its full-year earnings outlook Thursday, saying that despite heavy promotions of its premium-priced cigarette brands, consumers have turned to deep-discount rivals. The lowered outlook, which was announced after the close of regular market hours, sent the company's shares down sharply in after-hours trading. The stock rose $1.25 to $42.

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. has withdrawn a request asking the government to say whether it is OK to state in ads that its products are safer than cigarettes. In a letter to the agency last week, the nation's largest maker of moist snuff said it does not want the Federal Trade Commission to weigh in now because new information is likely to emerge from two tobacco conferences scheduled for September and October in Europe.

The largest smokeless tobacco company is violating a 1998 legal settlement by targeting children in its ads, lawmakers who cited a study by Massachusetts health officials said. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. spent $9.4 million last year on advertising in magazines that have substantial numbers of young readers, up from $3.6 million in 1997, according to the report by the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program.