Tobacco giants' worst year ever? (new laws limiting the sale and marketing of tobacco products)

This year, FDA rules will be implemented and more lawsuits will head to court

Tobacco companies have had some bad years.

There was 1964, the year of the first U.S. Surgeon General report linking tobacco to cancer. There was 1971, when cigarette ads were withdrawn from radio and television. And there was the year pregnant women were told smoking could harm their unborn babies.

Yet through it all, the tobacco industry somehow managed to regroup and find new markets for its products Until now, that is. The year that just ended may prove to be the turning point - the year the tobacco giants began a downside brought on by a groundswell of public indignation, crusading state and federal officials, and a stronger, better-coordinated public health community.

Not all signs are bad for the industry. Though tobacco …