A trio of smokers in Minnesota is suing for a refund of the state's 75-cent-per-pack "health impact fee" on cigarettes, which was charged for months before being declared illegal by a county judge.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Jan. 24 that the class-action lawsuit names tobacco companies and wholesalers as defendants -- the very group that successfully challenged the state fee in court. In December, Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetch ruled that the fee was a violation of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the states and the tobacco industry.

Minnesota collected an estimated $100 million from the fee before it was blocked. The new lawsuit contends that the tobacco companies should be made to repay that money to consumers rather than pocketing it themselves. "They've already collected that money from consumers and now they shouldn't get a second windfall from the state," said plaintiff's attorney Marshall H. Tanick.