If someone traveled from Atlanta to New York in 1964 to attend the
worlds fair and was given by the flight attendents several small packs
of ciggarettes causing that person to become addicted and develoop a
thirty year smoking habit tht ruined their health....could Delta be
held liable forty years later?

Hi Randy...

I believe 1964 was well before the tobacco scandal in which
tobacco companies began to be held accountable for deaths
and disabilities related to the use of their products and
the connection to addiction and cancer.

Additionally, it seems to me that the matter of intent would
be involved here. I seriously doubt that any suggestion of
negative intent on the part of the airlines would be taken
seriously.

Finally there's the all-important issue of free will. The
airlines merely gave out a legal product for free. It was
entirely up to the recipient as to whether to use it.

sublime1-ga

thanks, i just thought a fourteen year old young boy might be afforded
some protection later in life like say victims of abuse as
children...thanks.

211563-ga,
That makes the situation more unfortunate, but it would have to be
proved that those were the first cigarettes he ever smoked  - besides
the other problems mentioend.
Myoarin

I would have to agree. The airline did not force you to smoke. If it
gives you peanuts, you do not have to eat them or drink the liquor
that they provide you with and so on. 40 years is way too long a time
to be seeking revenge. 40 years after ypu became addicted. The 40
years you had to quit and save your health.

it wasn't me....i don't smoke.....it was my brother

I highly doubt that this suit would be successful, but I'm sure you
could find an attorney that would take the case.  That being said -
you would have to show that the flight attendant meant to get your
brother to start a 30 habit in order to get a finding that Delta was
liable.  That will be incredibly tough to prove.  And yes, children
that have been abused do get protection later in life, but often times
that is because 1) the abuse was against their will and 2) a lot of
children will supposedly repress the memories and not recover them
until years or decades later.  A 14 year old given cigarettes isn't
forcing him to smoke.

This is a sad commentary on a world where too many people are trying
to find other people liable for their own problems by bring nonsense
lawsuits that tie up the courts and raise the costs of products for
all consumers.