Dann sues tobacco company

COLUMBUS — Attorney General Marc Dann filed suit Tuesday against the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., alleging the company reneged on promises to stop youth-focused advertising of its products.

Dann joined attorneys general in five other states filing lawsuits against the company following the publication of a supplement in a November issue of Rolling Stone magazine that included cartoonlike illustrations.

Ohio is seeking $5 million — $100 for every Rolling Stone subscriber in the state and $100 for every Ohioan who registered on the Camel brands Web site advertised in the special section — which it plans to use for anti-smoking marketing efforts, said Susan Walker, chief of the Attorney General’s Tobacco Enforcement Section.

The legal motion, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, urges Judge David Fais to find R.J. Reynolds in contempt of its 1998 settlement, which prohibited the use of cartoon images in its advertising.

The Rolling Stone section featured several pages of doodlelike drawings featuring various animals, robots and aliens, according to copies provided by the Attorney General’s Office. R.J. Reynolds, according to the lawsuit, denied responsibility for the cartoon illustrations, noting that the images “contained no content previewed, prepared by or paid for by” the company.

Other states filing lawsuits Tuesday included California, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania.