WASHINGTON, DC -- Politicians, stop bullying tobacco companies!

So says the one political party that's never accepted a single penny from the tobacco lobby.

"Politicians should end their campaign of legal harassment against Liggett and other tobacco companies," said Steve Dasbach, chairman of the Libertarian Party. "Leave Liggett alone to sell their cigarettes -- a legal product that is popular with tens of millions of consumers."

Has the Libertarian Party sold out to Big Tobacco?

"No -- we've never taken a penny from the tobacco industry," said Dasbach. "But we'll staunchly defend their right to sell their products without harassment from puritanical politicians."

Dasbach's comments came after the Liggett Group Inc., the nation's fifth-largest tobacco manufacturer, agreed last week to turn "state's evidence" against the tobacco industry in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Following a lengthy legal struggle against Justice Department prosecutors and 22 state attorneys general, Liggett also agreed to pay the government 25% of its pretax profits for 25 years.

"It's extortion, plain and simple," said Dasbach. "The government is extorting millions of dollars from this company -- simply because politicians don't approve of cigarettes."

But aren't cigarettes dangerous?

"Of course cigarettes are dangerous -- and every American has known that for more than 30 years," said Dasbach. "But it's up to individuals to weigh the risks of smoking. Americans have done exactly that, and millions have quit. However, to the annoyance of the politicians, many adults continue to use this legal product.

"Since it's politically unpopular to attack tens of millions of smokers, politicians are picking on an easier target -- the tobacco companies. And, in the process, they're escalating the War on Tobacco to absurd proportions," he said. For example:

• Minnesota Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III said prosecuting Liggett was "like busting a street drug dealer to get at the Colombian drug cartel."
• The Drug Enforcement Agency refers to tobacco as a "gateway drug" that will lead children to cocaine and heroin.
• The Food & Drug Administration now requires cigarette sellers to ask for IDs from anyone younger than 27. "This means that Americans old enough to serve in Congress -- 25 -- aren't old enough to buy cigarettes without a photo ID!" Dasbach noted.

And the War on Tobacco will continue as long as state and federal politicians see cigarette companies as a bottomless source of money, Dasbach predicted.

"The 22 states suing the tobacco companies say they need the money to pay escalating Medicaid bills, which they attribute to smoking-related illnesses," he said. "But they're simply using the cigarette companies to try to prop up Medicaid -- another failed, bankrupt government program."

So who should pay the costs of smoking, medical or otherwise?

"The people who smoke," said Dasbach firmly. "Smokers should be personally responsible for their own foolish choices -- instead of forcing non-smokers to pick up the tab. If we had a free-market health care system, smokers would have to purchase insurance whose higher cost reflected that risk, and politicians wouldn't have to sue private companies to keep their bankrupt programs afloat."

The only way to stop this cycle of government extortion, he said, is for the politicians to leave the tobacco companies alone.

"The real threat to our lives and freedom comes not from tobacco companies selling legal products to eager consumers, but from the abuse of government power," said Dasbach. "Every American could breathe a little easier if the government ended its campaign of harassment against the tobacco industry -- and against Americans who choose to smoke."

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