There doesn't have to be smoke to get Smoke Free Wisconsin fired up.
In fact, Executive Director Maureen Busalacchi is fuming over a proposed settlement to those who use snuff. UST,the maker of Copenhagen and Skoal, has agreed to pay 65-million-dollars in the form of coupons to Wisconsin customers. It's part of a class action lawsuit settlement.
Busalacchi says that's the wrong approach. The court-ordered payback should be used for tobacco prevention. Busalacchi thinks smokeless tobacco is just as addictive and just as dangerous to one's health as cigarettes. And she believes the smokeless tobacco producers are still aiming their advertising at young people.
The suit alleged UST had a monopoly on the market and charged inflated prices. Consumers could get coupons totaling over eight hundred dollars to be used over twenty years if the agreement is finalized.