Tobacco.org

• Smokers priced out of the habit  

CIGARETTES would cost more than $20 for a packet of 30 and come in plain wrapping under a radical proposal being considered by the Federal Government to fund a massive preventive health program.

The cigarette tax hike and ban on all remaining forms of tobacco advertising have been included in the Federal Government's yet-to-be-released Preventative Health Taskforce report.

The report, being examined by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, urges the Federal Government to slash smoking rates in the next decade to 9 per cent of the adult population, cutting the number of people 14 and older who smoke daily from 3 million to 2 million.

Under the changes cigarette packets would be generic with larger graphic health warnings . . .

The plan has been strongly backed by anti-smoking organisations such as the Public Health Association, the Cancer Council and the National Heart Foundation but has alarmed cigarette companies, which are claiming such changes could be unlawful.

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The Cent of Tobacco ($$) 

For more than 100 years, the emerald green 4-H clover has been a symbol of wholesome living. The National 4-H Council trumpets health as one of its "four H's" and says its 6.5 million members pledge allegiance to a healthy lifestyle.

Over the past decade, however, the National 4-H Council has accepted more than $25 million from Philip Morris USA - maker of Marlboro, the best-selling U.S. cigarette brand and a long-time favorite of teen smokers.

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• Big tobacco pays Dutch opposition to smoking ban 

Ton Wurtz, treasurer of the foundation 'Red de kleine horecaondernemer' (Save the small hospitality entrepreneur), has admitted to receiving "about 50,000 euros per year" from the tobacco companies. Wurtz also holds biweekly strategy talks with Willem Jan Roelofs, the chairman of the cigarette industry foundation SSI, he said.

Smoking was banned in cafes, bars, hotels and restaurants in The Netherlands a year ago. Just before the ban went into effect on July 1, 2008, Wurtz, who has been the spokesperson for a foundation that stands up for smokers since 1993, and other seasoned tobacco lobbyists established the foundation to represent the interests of small cafe owners.

The smoking ban was primarily adopted to guarantee the right of employees to work in a smoke-free environment. But critics say small bars, with no employees except the owners, should be exempt from the ban. Several court cases are underway against cafes that defied the ban.

The law firm representing the small cafe owners has been negotiating with the tobacco industry about the possibility of it bankrolling future lawsuits challenging the smoking ban. . . .

"We are talking to several parties about financing a procedure, SSI amongst them," Marco Gerritsen of the Van Diepen Van der Kroef law firm confirmed. "They haven't promised anything yet."

SSI's is a collaboration between British American Tobacco (Pall Mall), Imperial Tobacco (Gauloises) and Japan Tobacco International (Camel); Philip Morris (Marlboro) left the group in 2005. Tobacco companies fear a decline of 5 percent of sales because of the smoking ban in bars. Roelofs: "That is a substantial loss in an already contracting market." He denied the SSI has any intention to finance future court cases.

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LAKIN: Tony Strickland sides with tobacco companies again 

IN A MOVE THAT WILL SURPRISE absolutely nobody, State Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark) voted in committee last week against a proposal to tack a tax on cigarettes to raise about $1.2 billion annually for the state's ailing general fund.

He also recently voted against two measures, SB 602 and SB 603, which would make it harder for minors to buy cigarettes.

The senator joined two other Republicans in voting no on SB 600, despite the fact that polls, such as one conducted after the May vote and another done in April by Field Research Inc. say an overwhelming majority of state residents favor an increase in tobacco taxes and don't want to see drastic cuts to health-care programs for low-income and disabled residents and children.

In the last 10 years, tobacco companies have spent millions in California to keep taxes on tobacco products here among the lowest in the nation. Strickland alone has been the recipient of a whopping $91,550 in tobacco contributions since he entered politics.

According to tobacco-facts.net, California's tobacco tax rate of 87 cents per pack is 32nd in the nation. Rhode Island is No. 1 with $3.46 a pack. Some city governments in other areas of the U.S. have imposed their own taxes as well. . . .

STRICKLAND HAS A LONG HISTORY of siding with Big Tobacco on legislation, especially when it comes to sales of tobacco products to minors. Beyond the recent votes against bills to curb youth smoking, while in the Assembly he voted against allowing the Department of Health Services to conduct stings on businesses selling tobacco to minors. It passed into law anyway. He also voted against restricting non face-to-face sales of cigarettes. The measure was signed into law by Schwarzenegger.

In May, he voted against SB 4 which prohibits smoking on any state coastal beach or state park unit, except in adjacent parking lots.

The Ventura County Republican Party has been well funded by tobacco dollars as well, with $50,000 deposited into its account in May of 2008 by Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris.

Other county tobacco donations include $28,650 for Assembly member Audra Strickland (R-Moorpark), $20,900 for Assembly member Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita), and $18,900 for Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster). None of the current Democratic legislators have accepted tobacco money.

Watch to see how all these politicians vote when the bills come before them. . . .

Of the two senators who sided with Strickland in the Senate Health Committee, both have also accepted tobacco money. Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) accepted $26,800 and Sen. Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) took $10,100.

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• MARLONE: How Tobacco Firms Woo Smokers  

The tobacco industry has cleverly gone beyond a merely defensive cam-Marlboro Man: From the Wild campaign to one which is positive and West to the Far East pro-cigarettes.

Other industry tactics include creating doubt without actually denying medical evidence linking smoking and cancer, philanthropy to buy friends and social respectability, and using trade agreements, bribery and lobbying to force entry into closed markets.

The tobacco industry has also used its slick promotional skills to perfect a "customised" approach to marketing products and brands by identifying and "hunting" segments of population, including the women, teens and children of the developing world.

Unfortunately, many developing countries provide a conducive atmosphere for tobacco companies to test their latest insidious tactics to get around strict legislation in developed countries. . . .

In Uganda, while still waiting for the National Environment Management Authority and the Police to enforce the Control of Smoking in Public Places legislation enacted in 2004, the vulnerable tobacco consumer needs to have an overview of the tobacco industry tactics and their corresponding goals -

- Intelligence Gathering - Monitor opponents and social trends to anticipate future challenges

- Public Relations - Mold public opinion using the media to promote pro-industry positions

- Political Funding - Use donations to win votes and legislative favours from politicians

- Lobbying - Cut deals and influence political process

- Consultancy Programmes - Produce "independent" experts critical of tobacco control measures

- Smokers' Rights Groups - Create impressions of spontaneous, grassroots public support

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Senators Who Get Money From Big Tobacco Oppose FDA Regulation 

Big Tobacco is closely tied to the small group of lawmakers who opposed recent legislation allowing greater FDA regulation of tobacco products and advertising methods. And last week McClatchy Newspapers cited OpenSecrets data to document these extensive connections. Here are our own observations:

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), has received more money ($359,100) since 1989 than any lawmaker but one from tobacco companies, many of which are based in his Tar Heel State Burr spearheaded the effort to defeat the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act according to the McClatchy story. Despite Burr's opposition, however, the bill eventually passed the Senate 79-17 after receiving the House's support earlier this year. Capital Eye previewed that vote at the end of March.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is the all-time leader in reaping the tobacco industry's contributions. . . .

While the industry used to rank as one of the most generous campaign contributors, tobacco companies have decreased their donations to candidates since a string of devastating lawsuits in the '90s. In 1996, only 25 other industries donated more money to federal candidates than tobacco, which poured a total of $10.6 million into their coffers. Yet the $4.2 million tobacco companies spent in the 2008 cycle actually represented an increase from the past two election cycles. Big Tobacco companies have also scaled back their lobbying operations. In 1998, tobacco companies spent $67.2 million lobbying Capitol Hill and the White House. Ten years later, the amount was $28 million. In the 1st Quarter of 2009, the industry shelled out $7 million to elite lobbying firms such as Womble Carlyle and Alston & Bird, among others.

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• Senators say tobacco votes based on regulations, not campaign contributions  

The 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco included some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from tobacco manufacturers.

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss is the third highest recipient of the group.

The historic anti-smoking legislation that the Senate passed Thursday sped to final congressional passage on Friday. Lawmakers and the White House quickly declared that it would save the lives of thousands of smokers of all ages. Even more important, they said, the measure could keep countless young people from starting in the first place. . . .

"I voted against the FDA tobacco bill because I'm opposed to the overregulation of an industry that's already highly regulated, from farmer to manufacturer," Chambliss said. "The bill saddles the already overburdened FDA with even more oversight duties, and does nothing to reduce the rate of smoking among Americans -- cigarettes already on the shelves will remain on the market."

Bunning, whose campaigns received $42,500 from R.J. Reynolds, says his vote reflects his state's interests. According to 2007 figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kentucky ranks second in overall tobacco exports, and the crop pumps $386.4 million into the state's economy.

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Money, Congress, and We the People 

If you want to know what a conflict of interest looks like, here are some examples. First from Yahoo! News:

Influential senators working to overhaul the nation's health care system have investments and family ties with some of the biggest names in the industry. The wife of Sen. Chris Dodd, the lawmaker in charge of writing the Senate's bill, sits on the boards of four health care companies.

Members of both parties have industry connections, including Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Tom Harkin, in addition to Dodd, and Republicans Tom Coburn, Judd Gregg, John Kyl and Orrin Hatch, financial reports showed Friday. . . .

Congressional and Presidential elections aren't the same - but even so, it would be hard for any of these people to justify letting any conflict of interest get in the way of doing right by the people.

Senator Burr, for instance, faces a potentially competitive re-election campaign next year. Senator McConnell, on the other hand, doesn't face the voters again until 2014. And yet both felt the need to break from the vast majority of their colleagues to vote against the best interests of the people of our nation.

Members of Congress are supposed to represent We the People. That's why we have a Congress in the first place. If a lawmaker won't do right by We the People, then what does that tell you about their integrity - and whether they're fit to stay in Congress?

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Tobacco: Money to Congress: All Senators  

Dodd, Chris (D-CT) $202,849

Bunning, Jim (R-KY) $194,166

Helms, Jesse (R-NC) $180,230

Faircloth, Lauch (R-NC) $173,069

Burns, Conrad (R-MT) $162,700

McCain, John (R-AZ) $145,182

Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) $138,800

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Tobacco: Money to Congress: Top 20 Members 

All Cycles

Top 20 Members

Candidate Amount

Tobacco: Money to Congress: Summary 

Party Split:

Dems: $9,864,918 $9,864,918

Repubs: $18,938,926 $18,938,926

Other: $-4,809,956 $-4,809,956

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Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry 

Among the 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry, which has donated millions of dollars to lawmakers in the past several campaign cycles.

Over the course of his nearly quarter-century Senate career, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who hails from the tobacco-rich state of Kentucky, has received $419,025 from the tobacco industry, more than any other member of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that analyzes the influence of money on politics and policy.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who led the opposition to the bill, is the second highest recipient and netted $359,100 from tobacco-related political action committees and individual contributions. His state is the nation's largest tobacco grower and is home to R.J. Reynolds, the nation's second largest tobacco manufacturing company, which contributed $196,850 to Burr's campaigns.

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, is the third highest recipient with $228,700. Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, who's up for re-election next year and is considered the most vulnerable Senate Republican, ranks eighth with $194,166.

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Evaluation of biomarkers of exposure to selected cigarette smoke constituents in adult smokers switched to carbon-filtered cigarettes in short-term and long-term clinical studies  

cal studies

Mohamadi Sarkar1,1, Sunil Kapur1, Kimberly Frost-Pineda1, Shixia Feng1, Jingzhu Wang1, Qiwei Liang1 and Hans Roethig1

1 Philip Morris USA, Research Center Richmond, VA . . .

Cigarette smoke is a complex aerosol that includes a gas vapor phase and a particulate phase. Inclusion of activated carbon in the cigarette filter can reduce some of the gas-phase smoke constituents implicated as toxicologically relevant. The present study evaluated exposure to selected gas-phase constituents when adult smokers switched to prototype cigarettes with a highly activated carbon filter. . . .

Statistically significant and consistent reductions in selected gas vapor phase biomarkers were observed when smokers switched to activated carbon filter cigarettes.

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• Senators who opposed tobacco bill received top dollar from industry  

Among the 17 senators who voted against allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco are some of the top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry, which has donated millions of dollars to lawmakers in the past several campaign cycles.

Over the course of his nearly quarter-century Senate career, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , who hails from the tobacco-rich state of Kentucky , has received $419,025 from the tobacco industry, more than any other member of Congress , according to the Center for Responsive Politics , a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that analyzes the influence of money on politics and policy.

North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr , who led the opposition to the bill, is the second highest recipient and netted $359,100 from tobacco-related political action committees and individual contributions. His state is the nation's largest tobacco grower and is home to R.J. Reynolds , the nation's second largest tobacco manufacturing company, which contributed $196,850 to Burr's campaigns.

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss , the ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee , is the third highest recipient with $228,700 . Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning , who's up for re-election next year and is considered the most vulnerable Senate Republican, ranks eighth with $194,166 . . . .

Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb supported the measure, as did Altria Group , the Richmond, Va. , company that owns Philip Morris . Altria contributed $78,418 to Warner.

"We think it's important to stay active in the political process," said William Phelps

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• Smoke-filled rooms? 

This year, however, the Legislature simultaneously raided the tobacco settlement fund and gutted the Hawai'i Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund, which uses money from the tobacco settlement fund to run those anti-smoking programs. Senate Bill 292 diverts 25.5 percent of the settlement fund's money to the General Fund and shrinks the Prevention and Control Trust Fund's share of the settlement fund's money from 12.5 percent to 6.5 percent. SB 884, which raids various special funds to bolster the General Fund, finds that the Tobacco settlement fund has an "excess" of $20 million and appropriates it to the General Fund.

According to Evans, the tobacco settlement fund had already taken a beating from the bad economy: "The trust fund corpus was about 55 million last year, and it's been losing money ever since due to the market. The current balance is about 33 million." Subtract $20 million from that, and then cut 12.5 percent of that to 6.5 percent, and there's not a lot left for anti-smoking programs. . . .

Tracking tobacco money isn't always easy. Reynolds American, formerly RJ Reynolds, usually donates in its own name -- but the world's biggest tobacco peddler, Altria, donates under a host of names, including Altria, Altria Client Services, Altria Corporate Services, Philip Morris USA and UST Public Affairs. At least one company executive has donated in his own name. And the company also hires a whole network of lobbying firms. In Hawai'i, it uses the services of three lobbyists: Celeste Y.K. Nip, Dan Smith, and George A. "Red" Morris. Reynolds uses John Radcliffe to lobby in Hawai'i. Smith made a $2,000 donation to Honolulu councilmember Romy Cachola's unsuccessful bid for the Senate; Cachola's campaign spending report lists Smith as a District Director for Altria in Richmond, Virginia. Morris, Radcliffe and Nip distributed tens of thousands in campaign donations to dozens of candidates during the 2008 election season -- but since they represent multiple clients, it's difficult to say whether the money they pass out is tobacco money or not.

But even without counting Morris's, Radcliffe's and Nip's contributions, Altria, its subsidiaries and officers passed out at least $51,309 to Hawai'i politicians during the 2008 elections, while Reynolds chipped in at least $19,500. . . .

Cigarette paper

Who got how much and from whom

Rep. Henry Aquino

Altria Client Services $1,000

Reynolds American $1,000

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