In a setback for tobacco giant Phillip Morris, a Florida jury ruled on Thursday that a longtime chain smokers death from lung cancer was caused by his addiction to cigarettes. This could open the door for thousands of similar Florida lawsuits.

Stuart Hess died of lung cancer in 1997 at age 55 after having smoked for 40 years. The lawsuit filed by Elaine Hess, Stuart's widow is the first of 8,000 such cases to go on trial after $145 billion jury award in a class action lawsuit filed by Miami Beach pediatrician Howard Engle in the early 1990s on behalf of thousands of smokers and their families was thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court in 2006.

The ruling by the jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida came in the first phase of a possible three phase trial. Lawyers for Elaine Hess who were required to show that Stuart was addicted to nicotine argued that Stuart Hess tried who smoked heavily for 40 years tried to quit even giving hypnosis a shot but failed to quit smoking as he was addicted to nicotine.

The nicotine addiction they said was so powerful that Hess continued to smoke even while he was undergoing chemotherapy before he died. "People smoke because they're addicted, not because they choose to," Hess attorney Gary Paige said. "Nobody wants to be addicted to cigarettes. It's as addictive as cocaine and heroin."

Kenneth Reilly, attorney for Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris said as per Hess' medical records he was able to quit from time to time but despite the doctor's advise to stop he would resume smoking each time. He added that there are thousands of smokers who successfully quit smoking each year.

The state's high court after almost three hours of deliberations ruled that tobacco companies knowingly sold dangerous products and kept smoking health risks concealed but said that each case must be proven individually. In Stuart Hess' case as the jury has ruled that he was addicted the case would go on to deciding the liabilities and damages.

Alex Alvarez, an attorney for Elaine Hess said, "We showed that. The next phase is to decide (compensatory) damages and our entitlement to punitive damages." They did not disclose how much they were seeking but speculations are rife that it would possibly be in the range of millions of dollars.

"We're very pleased with the jury's verdict," said Hess attorney Adam Trop. "Starting (Friday), the jury's going to hear a lot more about what the tobacco industry has been doing for the last several decades."

The second phase of the trial is scheduled to begin on Friday.

Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group, said in a statement, "The Hess trial is not over. The jury has decided only the threshold question of whether the plaintiff can proceed in this case as a former member of the Engle class."

The reference was to the 2006 case which was the first smoker's lawsuit to be certified as a class action and make it to trial in the U. S. With this case the state Supreme Court left in place key findings that tobacco firms knowingly sold dangerous products and concealed the risks of smoking which would help the thousands of smokers who filed individual lawsuits against the tobacco firms because they would not have to prove those issues again.

"This was the very first case. There are many more just like this and I think the cigarette companies are on notice that the jig is up," Alvarez said.