In November 1998, forty-six states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories (the states) entered into a settlement agreement with the four largest tobacco companies in the United States. This agreement, called the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), restricts tobacco companies’ marketing practices and requires them to pay a projected $206 billion over twenty-five years to the states.
The Office of the Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the MSA and for seeing that tobacco product manufacturers who have not signed the MSA comply with the Colorado Tobacco Escrow Funds Act.