A. The Oklahoma Legislature finds that cigarette smoking presents serious public health concerns to the State of Oklahoma and its citizens. The Oklahoma Legislature also finds that:
1. The Surgeon General has determined that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease and other serious diseases;
2. There are hundreds of thousands of tobacco-related deaths in the United States each year; and
3. These diseases most often do not appear until many years after the person in question begins smoking.
B. The Oklahoma Legislature further finds that cigarette smoking also presents serious financial concerns for the State of Oklahoma; that, under certain health care programs, the state may have a legal obligation to provide medical assistance to eligible persons for health conditions associated with cigarette smoking; that those persons may have a legal entitlement to receive such medical assistance; and that, under these programs, the State of Oklahoma pays millions of dollars each year to provide medical assistance for those persons for health conditions associated with cigarette smoking.
C. The Oklahoma Legislature additionally finds that it is the policy of the State of Oklahoma that financial burdens imposed on the state by cigarette smoking should be borne by tobacco product manufacturers rather than by the State of Oklahoma to the extent that such manufacturers either determine to enter into a settlement with the state, or are found culpable by the courts; and that on November 23, 1998, leading United States tobacco product manufacturers entered into a settlement agreement, entitled the “Master Settlement Agreement”, with the state, which obligates these manufacturers, in return for a release of past, present and certain future claims against them as described therein, to pay substantial sums to the state (tied in part to their volume of sales); to fund a national foundation devoted to the interests of public health; and to make substantial changes in their advertising and marketing practices and corporate culture, with the intention of reducing underage smoking.
D. The Oklahoma Legislature therefore finally finds that it would be contrary to the policy of the State of Oklahoma if tobacco product manufacturers who determine not to enter into such a settlement could use a resulting cost advantage to derive large, short-term profits in the years before liability may arise without ensuring that the state will have an eventual source of recovery from them if they are proven to have acted culpably; and that it is thus in the interest of the State of Oklahoma to require that such manufacturers establish a reserve fund to guarantee a source of compensation and to prevent such manufacturers from deriving large, short-term profits and then becoming judgment-proof before liability may arise.
Added by Laws 1999, c. 357, § 1, eff. July 1, 1999. Renumbered as § 2315 of Title 62 by Laws 2016, c. 366, § 185, eff. Oct. 1, 2018. Renumbered back to original number as § 600.21 of Title 37 by Laws 2018, c. 270, § 2 (see note for § 1 of c. 270 below).
NOTE: Laws 2016, c. 366, was conditionally effective upon passage of State Question No. 792, Legislative Referendum No. 307, which was adopted at election held on Nov. 8, 2016.
NOTE: Laws 2018, c. 270, § 1 reads: