For decades, overwhelming evidence has consistently linked tobacco consumption to significant human disability and mortality. In the United States from the 1960s to the 1990s, numerous campaigns and legal battles unfolded between tobacco companies and society.
On November 23, 1998, the Attorneys General of 46 states, five US territories (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and The Virgin Islands), and the District of Columbia signed the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the four largest US cigarette manufacturers. Due to previous similar settlements, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Texas, did not sign. The major signatories included Phillip Morris, Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and two smaller producers later acquired by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and Lorillard Tobacco Corp.)
The MSA imposed strict restrictions on cigarette advertising, marketing, and sponsorship, and allocated funds for healthcare costs related to tobacco-related illnesses. The tobacco industry committed to paying billions to the settling states and territories based on adjustable factors, most notably, the future sales of the tobacco industry as well as inflation. The State of Arkansas will receive approximately an annual allocation of 0.828%, equivalent to about $62 million in 1999.
In the November 7th, 2000, election, 64% of the Arkansas voters endorsed the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000 as a citizen-initiated act, known as the Initiated Act I of 2000. This act aimed to focus broadly on improving public health rather than solely addressing tobacco's effects. The act entrusted management of funds to the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission (ATSC) under the State Board of Finance, emphasizing the funds to be invested for health-related purposes within Arkansas.
The Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000 allocates funds to seven health-focused programs:
- Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Programs
- Medicaid Expansion Programs
- Research and Health Education (statewide Arkansas Biosciences Institute, statewide ABI, headquartered in Little Rock)
- College of Public Health (COPH)
- Delta Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
- Arkansas Aging Initiative (AAI)
- Minority Health Initiative (MHI)
Statewide Arkansas Biosciences institute
Established with the primary goal of advancing medical and agricultural research for the benefit of Arkansas residents, the statewide Arkansas Biosciences Institute (statewide ABI) in Little Rock serves as a prominent research consortium. It comprises five member institutions:
- Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)
- University of Arkansas – Division of Agriculture
- University of Arkansas – Fayetteville
- Arkansas State University (A-State)
As part of this initiative, UAMS inaugurated the Biomedical Research Center II in January 2003, and A-State launched the Arkansas Biosciences Institute (A-State ABI) in Jonesboro in October 2004.
Aligned with the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000, funding allocated to the consortium is dedicated to research in five key areas:
- Agricultural research with medical implications
- Bioengineering research that expands genetic knowledge and creates new potential applications in the agricultural-medical fields
- Tobacco-related research that identifies and applies behavioral, diagnostic, and therapeutic knowledge to address the high level of tobacco-related illnesses in Arkansas
- Nutritional and other research that is aimed at preventing and treating cancer, congenital and hereditary conditions, or other related conditions
- Exploring other developing areas of research that are related to or complement the primary programs supported by the statewide ABI
References
Arkansas Department of Health. (2024). Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission. https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/arkansas-tobacco-settlement-commission/
National Association of Attorneys General. (2019). Master Settlement Agreement (January 2019 Printing). Retrieved July 1, 2024, from https://www.naag.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2019-01-MSA-and-Exhibits-Final.pdf
Sloan, F. A., Mathews, C. A., and Trogdon, J. G. (2004). Impacts of the Master Settlement Agreement on the Tobacco Industry. Tobacco Control, 13(4), 356-361. https://doi.org/10.1136/tc.2003.007229
Public Health Law Center. Tobacco Control Legal Consortium. (2015). The Master Settlement Agreement: An Overview. Retrieved July 1, 2024, from https://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/tclc-fs-msa-overview-2015.pdf
United States Department of Justice. (1999). United States Sues Cigarette Companies to Recover Federal Health Care Costs. Retrieved July 1, 2024, from https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/1999/September/428civ.htm
United States General Accounting Office, U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2001). Tobacco Settlement: State’s Use of Master Settlement Agreement Payments. Report to the Honorable John McCain, Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate. Retrieved July 1, 2024, from https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-01-851.pdf
Suggested Read
Healton, C. (2018). The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement - Strategic Lessons for Addressing Public Health Problems. The New England Journal of Medicine, 379(11), 997-1000. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMp1802633
