Tobacco settlement

A report by state economists pointed to a forecast last month that cigarette sales would decline by 2.5 percent annually over the next decade.

The court denied the settlement because the couple was not married when the victim was first diagnosed in the 1990s — a time when Florida did not allow same sex marriages.

A jury awarded damages to the estate of Janice Hamilton, a smoker who died of lung cancer. But R.J. Reynolds argued in the appeal that a circuit judge improperly allowed a hearsay statement.

A smoldering controversy over Florida’s landmark tobacco settlement and how money should be spent has been snuffed out.

Florida’s smoking rates may have dropped, but the need continues for an anti-smoking campaign --- making ill-advised a proposed constitutional amendment...