CALIFORNIA: STATE LIKELY TO FILE SUIT AGAINST INDUSTRY

      State Attorney General Dan Lungren (R) is expected to file
 suit today against the tobacco industry "to recoup hundreds of
 millions of dollars in California's tobacco-related medical
 costs," Los Angeles Times reports.  The announcement is expected
 to come today as Gov. Pete Wilson (R) "signs a bill that
 specifically grants the attorney general the authority to sue
 cigarette manufacturers."  Sean Walsh, a spokesperson for Wilson,
 said, "We have requested that the attorney general immediately
 file a lawsuit for the costs of health care services for those
 who have suffered from tobacco-related illness."  Lungren has
 resisted filing suit in the past, citing "a 1987 state law
 exempting tobacco from some types" of lawsuits (see AHL 4/4)
 (Morain, 6/12).  Lungren said that the legislation to be signed
 by Wilson "clears up the legal confusion and paves the way for a
 lawsuit (Lucas, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/12).     
      THE SUIT
      The lawsuit "is expected to include claims for violations of
 state antitrust laws for failing to develop a safer cigarette." 
 It is also expected to charge that the industry practiced "false
 advertising and fraud for concealing information about the
 addictive nature of nicotine and for targeting children" (Times,
 6/12).