WEEKEND MEMOS

'Weekend memos' give our editorial writers a chance to express their own opinions, comment on topics they have been writing about, or take a lighter approach. The opinions in 'Memos' do not always follow the Enquirer's editorial positions.

Ohio dodged a bullet - make that a flying "coffin nail" - last week when an Illinois judge lowered the amount cigarette maker Philip Morris had to post as bond in a class-action lawsuit.

Philip Morris now is able to send Ohio its tobacco settlement payment of $80 million, which will keep the current fiscal year's budget from exploding - again. But cash-strapped Ohio continues to depend on revenue from a besieged industry whose sales it is actively working to diminish.

Most illogical, as Mr. Spock would say. So is the specter of three dozen states filing a brief in support of Big Tobacco after wringing their hands for years over its evils. They now must fervently pray that the industry remains viable, even while it's pummeled by multibillion-dollar lawsuits.

This is the crazy position Ohio put itself in when it accepted the tobacco settlement. It is doubly crazy because an alternative was available.

In 1999, state Treasurer Joe Deters proposed that Ohio follow several other states' lead and "securitize" the settlement; that is, sell its award - up front, for a discounted lump sum - to private investors willing to assume the risk on tobacco firms' future ability to pay. This solution was as simple and prudent as the applicable folk saying: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

"My point was this," Deters said recently. "I cannot in good conscience invest in that industry - it's too risky - but we're going to rely on a revenue stream from that industry for 25 years?" Evidently we are.

And although other state leaders, eyeing those two in the bush, shot down Deters' idea, he hesitates to criticize them. Now, it's too late to securitize, Deters says. Even risk-takers won't take a risk on firms that are "near junk-bond status." Ohio's golden goose is getting smoked.

This lesson ought not to escape state officials, who again propose that Ohio depend on a revenue stream from an inherently risky source - gambling. In this case, video lottery terminals at race tracks. If a House budget plan prevails, voters this fall will be asked to pull the lever and take a chance on VLT revenue.

Meanwhile, Ohio keeps rolling the dice on tobacco, and it's bound to come up snake eyes.

"I'm not going to say 'I told you so,' " Deters said.

He doesn't have to.

Ray Cooklis