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Navigation: Headlines : State Government : Report
Man files claim against state to help him quit smoking
Register Business Writer 02/23/1999 As Iowa debates how to spend millions from the national tobacco settlement, a Des Moines man is asking the state for $100.78 to help him quit smoking. Steven Fuller, 49, has filed a personal injury claim with the state for a 24-day supply of Habitrol, a prescription patch system. In his claim, which he filed Friday, Fuller argues that the state is directly involved in the distribution of cigarettes. It benefits by setting a 22 percent wholesale tax per pack but offers no health services for addicts like himself, he contends. "I am asking for help in my 34-year addiction," he says in his claim. "It is time for the state to face its civil liability." Gov. Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Tom Miller announced last week a $17.7 million anti-smoking plan. The proposal, which would be paid for with money from last year"s national tobacco settlement, would include funds for stop-smoking classes. Regardless of how Iowa uses the settlement, Fuller said, the state already collects enough revenue from cigarettes to pay for treatment. A self-employed carpenter, he filed his claim without hiring a lawyer. He said he may lose, but he wants to raise the question over the state's responsibility to smokers. Michael Green, a law professor at the University of Iowa and an unpaid adviser in the state's efforts to fight tobacco companies, said Fuller had no basis for a legal claim. Anyone who wants to make a political statement should talk to his or her legislator or write a letter to the editor instead of adding to court caseloads, Green said. "I find this wasteful." |
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