Tobacco Battle Continues

The Obama administration wants the Supreme Court to allow the government to seek nearly $300-billion from the tobacco industry due to a half century of deception.
We spoke with a local tobacco farmer about this issue and what might happen if the government gets the money.
"As far as the 50 states, Kentucky ranks the highest in tobacco production, and if something like this were to happen, there'd be many families affected by this," said Joel Cook, a local tobacco farmer from Simpson County.
Cook just recently sold the last of his tobacco crop, and he'll start replanting mid-March to once again start the year-long process of growing tobacco.
"As a tobacco farmer, I'd have to strongly stand against that," said Cook. "It sounds like they're just trying to take the money away from the tobacco industry for the well-being of others, and I don't think the tobacco industry should be penalized for anything that's happened in the past."
The government says the industry has cost millions of Americans their health and lives.
"Everybody's aware of the health risks," said Cook. "It's on every pack of cigarettes. Smoking is a hazard to your health."
If the government receives the money, Cook says it would poorly affect the industry which is already going through a crucial time.
"As a burley tobacco farmer, I'm seeing a decrease in the amount of pounds I'm able to grow in this current coming year," said Cook. "I feel that if the tobacco industry is struck by anything like this, it could really take effect on the tobacco farmer."
Cook, being one of those farmers, says there may be other crops or cattle he could fall back on.
"There are areas to increase so I can rely on that for my income, but as of right now, tobacco is very critical to my income and putting food on the table for my family," said Cook.
The decade-long fight went to the high court this past Friday.
While the government wants $300-billion, leading tobacco companies want the court to throw out rulings holding that the industry illegally concealed the dangers of cigarette smoking.