Section 323.803 - Findings and purpose(1) Cigarette smoking presents serious public health concerns to the State of Oregon and to the people of the State of Oregon. The Surgeon General has determined that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease and other serious diseases, and that there are hundreds of thousands of tobacco-related deaths in the United States each year. These diseases most often do not appear until many years after the person in question begins smoking.(2) Cigarette smoking also presents serious financial concerns for this state. Under certain health care programs, the State of Oregon may have a legal obligation to provide medical assistance to eligible persons for health conditions associated with cigarette smoking, and those persons may have a legal entitlement to receive such medical assistance.(3) Under those health care programs, the State of Oregon pays millions of dollars each year to provide medical assistance for persons for health conditions associated with cigarette smoking.(4) It is the policy of the State of Oregon that financial burdens imposed on this state by cigarette smoking be borne by tobacco product manufacturers rather than by this state. Tobacco product manufacturers that have settled with this state pay the State of Oregon millions of dollars each year. Other tobacco product manufacturers do not make direct payments to this state.(5) On November 23, 1998, leading United States tobacco product manufacturers entered into a settlement agreement, entitled the "Master Settlement Agreement," with the State of Oregon. The Master Settlement Agreement obligates those manufacturers, in return for a release of past, present and certain future claims against them as described in the Master Settlement Agreement:(a) To pay substantial sums to the State of Oregon (tied in part to their volume of sales);(b) To fund a national foundation devoted to the interests of public health; and(c) To make substantial changes in their advertising and marketing practices and corporate culture, with the intention of reducing underage smoking.(6) The State of Oregon owes its public health obligations equally to all persons in this state who smoke, regardless of the brand of cigarette smoked or the status of the tobacco product manufacturer under the Master Settlement Agreement.(7) It is consistent with the policy of the State of Oregon to require tobacco product manufacturers that have not entered into a settlement with this state to pay directly to this state an amount that is intended to:(a) Prevent the manufacturers from deriving large, short-term profits and then becoming judgment-proof;(b) Require the manufacturers to assume the health care costs imposed on this state by cigarette smoking;(c) Increase the retail prices of cigarettes sold by the manufacturers, thereby reducing smoking rates, particularly among youth, as consistent with this state's policy of discouraging youth smoking; and(d) Serve as partial compensation for the financial burdens imposed on this state by cigarette smoking.Amended by 2023 Ch. 401,§ 1, eff. 1/1/2024.Amended by 2017 Ch. 315, § 31, eff. 1/1/2018.