AP via The Hindu, January 22, 2010
A five-year legal battle against Japan Tobacco by two former smokers and a widow has ended with damage demands thrown out, but a Japanese court for the first time clearly acknowledged the health risks of cigarettes.
[...]
The Yokohama District Court, in a ruling released on Wednesday, said there was a link between smoking and lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses, and that smoking may be addictive.
[...]
The lawsuit had demanded sterner warning labels on cigarettes, a ban on cigarette vending machines, and an acknowledgment that smoking is addictive and harmful.
Japan Tobacco Inc., a former monopoly that is still majority-owned by the government, argued that smokers are free to quit and cancer has multiple causes.
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I have no problem with people who want to smoke but the lack of knowledge about cigarettes here never fails to amaze me. The long standard warning on cig packages of "For your health be careful not to smoke too much." always made me laugh. Not sure if it's still used or not, but with the government owning JT it wouldn't surprise me.
