Tobacco Money

Is your money in tobacco? Everyone knows smoking is hazardous to your health, shortens your life expectancy and is horrible for your skin and teeth. However, few people are aware that your state is banking on the success of the tobacco industry. Shocked? States have essentially borrowed against future payments from the tobacco industry. These payments stem from “when a collection of state attorneys general delivered a crushing blow to Big Tobacco. On Nov. 23, 1998, the nation's four largest cigarette sellers agreed to pay $200 billion over 30 years.” Now, if “Big Tobacco stumbles, states will be on the hook for these massive, billion-dollar loans.”
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