The State of Colorado will receive USD 107 million (EUR 87 million) in back pay from tobacco companies in April, in addition to the annual settlement payment of USD 75 million already owed to the state, The Denver Post reported.

Attorney General Cynthia Coffman announced the back payment after her office reached a deal with tobacco companies. Following the 1998 settlement between the four largest US tobacco companies and 46 states, the tobacco companies have made annual payments to states seeking to recover smoking-related healthcare costs, but have withheld a portion of the last 11 payments, claiming states were not complying with settlement rules.
Colorado receives a portion of the national annual payment made by tobacco companies and has received close to USD 1.7 billion since 1999, most of which has been used to fund health-related programmes and smoking prevention initiatives, the newspaper said.