The US courts have ordered the tobacco industry in the USA to pay $591m to help people give up smoking. A jury in Louisiana found that several tobacco companies had lied about the dangers of tobacco. They also found that the companies had been targeting adolescents.

So, projects to help smokers give up, nicotine patches and helplines will get a giant injection of $591m. Individual smokers will not get any money.

In this court trial, the plaintiffs were everyone who smoked in the state of Louisiana before the middle of the 90s. The suit was filed in 1995.

The cigarette companies say they will appeal. Many say they got off lightly as the punishment sought for was $1bn. The companies involved in this trial were Morris, RJ Reynolds and Brown & Williamson (part of BAT).

The payment will be spread over a period of ten years.

According to the lawyer of the plaintiffs, 6,500 people in Louisiana died every year as a result of smoking.

The jury had to decide how much the tobacco companies would have to pay. They had already been found guilty beforehand.

The share prices of the companies involved do not seem to have been affected by this fine.