LIGGETT EXEC TELLS WHY HE SPLIT FROM OTHER TOBACCO FIRMS

The head of America's smallest cigarette company testified yesterday that
he broke ranks with the tobacco industry because he "didn't want to have to
go to court and lie" about smoking.

Bennett LeBow, chairman of the parent company of the Liggett Group, told
the jury in Minnesota's tobacco trial that he began admitting that
cigarettes cause cancer and that nicotine is addictive because "it was
about time someone stood up and told the truth."

Liggett settled lawsuits with the states last year, agreeing to provide
damaging evidence against its largest competitors. LeBow appeared as a
witness for the state.

"We had now seen all the documents. I was convinced that smoking was
addictive, that smoking does cause all these problems. I didn't want to
have to go to court and lie about it," LeBow testified.

LeBow said he settled in part for financial motivations, to help keep his
struggling company afloat. He said he does not regret his actions, even
though sales of Liggett cigarettes have fallen 50 percent since it added a
warning label that nicotine is addictive.

The state and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota are accusing the
cigarette companies of concealing the dangers of smoking. They seek $1.77
billion for money spent treating smoking-related illnesses, plus punitive
damages.

Documents introduced in court yesterday showed that cigarette manufacturers
looked at children as young as 14 as they planned marketing strategies as
early as 1974, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.,maker of Winston and Salem
cigarettes, discussed the 14 to-24 age group during a meeting in September
1974, when the board of directors was told younger people "represent
tomorrow's cigarette business."

Meanwhile, in Washington, the White House has decided-to embrace a tough
tobacco settlement bill that would impose a $1.50 per pack tax on
cigarettes over the next three years and give the tobacco industry little
of the protection from lawsuits it has been seeking, officials said.

Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to attend a news conference tomorrow
where the bill will be formally announced, signaling the administration's
support for legislation that would raise cigarette taxes a greater amount
than envisioned by the president's budget.

The administration's blessing of the bill, written by a Senate Democratic
task force led by Senator Kent Conrad, D-N.D., would begin to set the
parameters of the Senate debate on the complex and explosive issue of a
national tobacco settlement policy. Two bills introduced by Republican
senators call for far smaller payments from the tobacco industry and give
the industry broader protection from lawsuits.