The concept of allocable share release (ASR), designed to make the MSA payments required of small companies, on a state-by-state basis, to be the same as major companies, is not easy to explain. It has proved much easier to misrepresent this provision of the MSA in the 39 states that have repealed ASR.

Attempting to maintain the price cartel the MSA effectively established for them, major cigarette manufacturers:
➢ misrepresent ASR as an unintended loophole.
➢ portray ASR as a tax program rather than a legal settlement.
➢ demagogue companies that get an ASR as “cheap cigarettes makers who sell their products to kids” even though over 90% of underage smokers acquire brands manufactured by the majors. Continue Reading »