The makers of Camel and Winston cigarettes have been fined $20m (�14m) for targeting young people in a magazine advertising campaign.

A California judge found that the second-biggest US tobacco company, RJ Reynolds (RJR), had indirectly targeted youngsters through publications such as Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated.

Today's decision has nothing to do with kids

Tommy Payne RJR

The court said that by placing advertisements in magazines widely read by youths, the company violated a 1998 pact with 46 US states that barred it from targeting youngsters.

As well as handing down a fine, Judge Ronald Prager ordered RJ Reynolds to take "reasonable" measures to reduce youth exposure to its advertising.

Censorship

"Since the Master Settlement Agreement was signed, RJR has exposed youth to its tobacco advertising levels very similar to those of targeted groups of adult smokers," the judge wrote in his ruling.

Judge Prager told RJR to reduce youth exposure to ads

Officials at RJ Reynolds said the decision was censorship.

It said it advertises only in magazines with at least 75% of adult readers.

"Today's decision has nothing to do with kids and everything to do with the attorney general's desire to censor, if not ban, legal marketing to adult smokers," Tommy Payne, an RJ Reynolds executive vice president, said in a statement.

Aggressive

But the judge said that the company's rivals, such as Philip Morris and Brown & Williamson, had agreed not to place their advertisements in magazines where 12 to 17 year olds accounted for more than 15% of readers.

targeting children in your quest for new consumers is unlawful, shameful and will not be tolerated in California

Bill Lockyer Attorney General

He said the evidence indicated that Reynolds' youth-targeted ads were spurred in part by the company's fears that it was losing market share.

He said RJR "believed it had to be more aggressive than other tobacco companies in its advertising."

The decision marked the latest victory for California's Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Shameful

Last month a Los Angeles court fined R.J.Reynolds nearly $15m for handing out free cigarettes at events such as street fairs and car races where children are present.

Mr Lockyer also reached a settlement with the firm in January 2001 over the company's practice of mailing free cigarettes to consumers without determining if they were over the age of 18.

The attorney general said in a statement: "When hundreds of your customers die every day, the only way to stay in business is to hook new ones.

"But targeting children in your quest for new consumers is unlawful, shameful and will not be tolerated in California," he added.