Earlier this month, Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco manufacturer, was ordered to pay a record $28 billion by a Los Angeles jury.

Betty Bullock, 64, a smoker for 47 years, was awarded the hefty sum. The jury's decision did not come without controversy.

This judgment of $28 billion being awarded to one person is very absurd. Punishing a company because of an individual choice goes against the very concept of free will. Bullock exercised her free will when she decided to start smoking and has only herself to blame.

According to lawyers for Philip Morris, the jury did not focus on what the plaintiff, Bullock, knew about the health risks of smoking, or whether the company did anything wrong to influence her decision not to quit.

Bullock claims to have been a smoker for 47 years, but it has been 52 years since the first preliminary findings of researchers Richard Doll and Bradford Hill, which linked tobacco smoking with lung cancer, were published.

It's been 18 years since the Surgeon General's warning labels first appeared on cigarette packs. Bullock chose to ignore those warnings. Philip Morris attorneys also said the jury seems to have let personal feelings get in the way of sound judgment. They argue the company played no role in Bullock's addiction.

The attorneys for Phillip Morris have stated they plan to appeal the decision. The previous record for a jury award against a tobacco company was this past June in Miami for $3 billion. The judgment came against none other than Philip Morris. That judgment was reduced in appeal to $100 million.

These two lawsuits, in Los Angeles and Miami, were the first to be tried since the California Supreme Court issued a ruling that protected the tobacco industry from liability for actions between 1988-1997.

More than likely, Philip Morris will not pay $28 billion and it shouldn't have to. If the United States intends to outlaw smoking it should make cigarettes illegal and not beat around the bush. Raising taxes on cigarettes and allowing multiple lawsuits against tobacco companies are simply too ineffective.

More importantly, corporations shouldn't be blamed for a consumer's free will to choose a harmful product. It's called taking responsibility for one's own actions.

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