In the biggest liability suit ever won against a tobacco company, Philip Morris, makers of Marlboro cigarettes, was ordered Tuesday to pay $81 million to the family of Jesse Williams.

Williams, who smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, died in 1997, five months after he was diagnosed with small-cell carcinoma of the lungs. His wife and children successfully sued the tobacco giant, alleging that Williams believed that the company wouldn’t knowingly produce a product that is harmful to its users.

It is a tragedy that Williams died, just as it is horrific that thousands of smokers pass away each year from smoking-related diseases.

But believing that cigarettes aren’t harmful? Come on.

All smokers who put a cigarettes to their lips are taking a chance with their health. It’s that simple. And, of course, many people ignore the warnings every day, and that’s their choice.

It’s true that the tobacco companies have, until recent years, denied that cigarettes are addictive or cause cancer. However, anyone who has been in the real world since 1963, when the surgeon general clued everybody in to the dangers of smoking, knows it is addictive. It is dangerous.

And Williams should have known it as well. It’s hard to believe that during his three-pack a day habit, he never once glanced at the warning labels that are displayed prominently on the packages.

This is not to imply that Williams wasn’t an intelligent man or that he deserved to die for his habit. But almost everybody knows somebody who has had trouble with a smoking-related illness.

We’re not supporting the tobacco companies. They knew what they were doing marketing a dangerous product. That’s hardly commendable.

Thanks to publicity and litigation, people are more educated than ever about the dangers of smoking.

So there really is no excuse today for anyone to claim ignorance of the facts. Smokers may be addicted, but they do not have diminished capacity. In addition to information, there is an abundance of products available over the counter to help smokers quit.

So for now, smoking is legal for adults, and it’s their choice.

The key word is choice. Nobody forces anybody to smoke. Like so many other smokers, it was Williams’ call to make, and for his family to monopolize on his death is ridiculous. They could have stopped him.