Tobacco Reporting  CigarettesIn 1998, 46 states and numerous
other jurisdictions entered into a historic, multibillion dollar
agreement to settle consumer protection lawsuits filed by the
states for the costs that they had incurred for treating the
negative health effects of smoking. This agreement, referred to
as the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), imposed several
health-related and advertising restrictions. In addition, the
MSA requires the settling tobacco manufacturers to make annual
payments to the settling states. Arkansas received about $1.6
billion from the settlement, a portion of which is paid yearly
by the settling tobacco companies. Arkansas’s annual payment is
approximately $60 million. The money is used for smoking
cessation programs, healthcare research and as an offset to some
of the costs that fall on states because of smoking-related
illnesses.  The Tobacco Division of the Attorney General’s
Public Protection Department is responsible for enforcing the
terms of the MSA in Arkansas.  In ad