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In a Louisville, Ky., Holiday Inn, Brown and Williamson researchers brainstormed novel ways to sell tobacco.
It was 1992, and the goal was to find "socially acceptable" ways to use it, according to one of the company's internal research and development documents. It needed to be smokeless, spitless, and not produce an odor. It needed to be fire safe, readily available and not subject to federal regulations.
Their ideas ran the gamut: tobacco pills and lotion, beverages and toothpicks. They even considered a tobacco-derived salted snack and perfume or aftershave.
Nearly two decades later, the tobacco industry's answers are showing up in test markets around the country. Utah health officials say they expect to see them rolled out across the country, and in the state, before long.
That's why they are warning consumers now: The new products look like candy and come packaged in slick, colorful containers. And they may be especially appealing to children.
"You don't look at that (the packaging) and think 'evil,'" said David Neville, a spokesman for the Utah Department of Health's Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. "You look at it and think, 'That's cute.' "
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the manufacturer of Camel and 10 other brands, says it is only gathering input from consumers in its lead markets: Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Ore. and Indianapolis, Ind. It's unsure when -- or even if -- these new kinds of smokeless tobacco will take root as products, said spokesman David Howard. . . .
Camel's Orb -- small, brown-colored pellets -- could be easily mistaken for a Tic Tac. A 1-year-old who weighs about 23 pounds could suffer from severe toxicity or death if he or she ate as few as 10.
"It doesn't look quite as shiny or appealing," said Ellie Brownstein, a University Hospital pediatrician, "but how many kids go rifling through their mom's purse for a mint?"
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A record low number of adult Utahns -- 9.1 percent -- use tobacco, according to a new annual report released today by the state Department of Health.
Tobacco use has declined by 33 percent since 1999, the year that an anti-smoking campaign funded by the Master Settlement agreement with cigarette manufacturers that were sued nationwide went into effect.
Public health administrators credit the reduction in use to the public awareness campaign underwritten by the settlement, the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program and the TRUTH marketing campaign. The report also credits local public health departments and partner public service agencies in communities statewide for the decrease.
The addition of a new $1 per-pack federal cigarette tax, plus the nearly constant anti-tobacco drumbeat surrounding a push to increase the state's tobacco tax during this past legislative session has probably had a ripple effect on the decline of smoking, health officials said.
"It caused a lot of stress for a lot of people for [the company] to say you can't chew anymore," said Shelly, who testified last month before an United Mine Workers of America arbitrator. Miners had challenged a ban on smokeless tobacco use at the Emery County mine.
Arbitrator Fred Butler ruled in the union's favor Friday, determining that Energy West Mining Corp.'s new policy, officially implemented (but not enforced) July 1, violated the company's collective bargaining agreement covering 276 Deer Creek miners and 17 prep plant workers.
Energy West is the mining subsidiary of Rocky Mountain Power and its parent companies, PacifiCorp and MidAmerican Holdings Co., which enacted the policy at all of their properties.
Butler ruled that chewing tobacco is a prior practice that should be allowed to continue because it is not in conflict with the existing collective bargaining agreement.
In addition, Shelly and other union witnesses at the arbitration session argued that many miners are addicted to chewing tobacco.
Intermountain Healthcare is issuing an ultimatum to its lobbying corps: Kick tobacco or else.
The region's largest health-care provider sent letters this month to its contract lobbyists -- including former House Speaker Greg Curtis -- demanding that they sign a conflict-of-interest statement vowing not to lobby on behalf of tobacco companies or Intermountain would terminate their pacts.
"The purpose of the statement is to preclude Intermountain lobbyists from working for tobacco interests, and to force current lobbyists who represent tobacco to choose one side or the other," said the letter from Alan Dayton, Intermountain's director of government relations.
Five lobbyists worked for both Intermountain and tobacco companies in the past legislative session: Curtis, Miles and Sue Ferry, their grandson David Stewart and Rob Jolley.
"We're tightening our policy," Intermountain spokesman Daron Cowley said. "We felt it was incongruous for firms to represent health care and tobacco at the same time." . . .
During the 2009 legislative session, a team of tobacco lobbyists helped derail various efforts to increase the cigarette tax by anywhere from 61.5 cents to $1.31 per pack, but the proposal promises to be back again next year. Utah's current cigarette tax is 69.5 cents per pack.
"Their role was significant," said Michael Siler . . .
Sue Ferry said her husband, Miles "Cap" Ferry, a former Senate president, and their grandson will stick with the tobacco company.
"We will be staying with Altria. We've represented them a much longer period of time," she said. "[Intermountain] has known from the very beginning that we represented [Altria] and up until this last session that hasn't been a conflict or a problem." . . .
"This company," she said, "has never asked me to do one thing that would be contrary to the health, safety or welfare of the people of Utah or my religion."
This company has never asked me to do one thing that would be contrary to the health, safety or welfare of the people of Utah or my religion.Utah Altria lobbyist Sue Ferry.
This week, I offer a suggestion on why tobacco companies seem to do so well in a Legislature that claims an 80 percent membership in the LDS Church, which lists tobacco among its taboos.
It has to do with money.
Tobacco companies contract with some of the most plugged-in lobbyists in Utah, so while the industry giants like Reynolds American and Altria don't show up in any extraordinary way in legislators' campaign-finance disclosures, the lobbyists who represent them have deep pockets through their many other clients.
Altria, which owns U.S. Tobacco Co., contracts with lobbyists Sue and Cap Ferry, Dave Stewart, former House Speaker Greg Curtis and League of Cities and Towns governmental affairs director Lincoln Shurtz. . . .
Tobacco giant Reynolds American contracts with lobbyists Nancy Sechrest, who has 13 other clients, and Travis Wood, who also represents more than a dozen corporations, including such behemoths as AT&T and Delta Airlines. . . .
IHC executives reportedly have become concerned about their lobbyists also representing tobacco companies, since their business, after all, is health care. Word on the street is that IHC soon will force its lobbyists -- such as Curtis, Stewart and the Ferrys -- to choose between IHC and Big Tobacco.
Speaking of conflicts of interest, Shurtz, the League of Cities and Towns official, was hired by tobacco interests to lobby against a cigarette tax increase, which would have benefited -- you guessed it -- Utah's cities and towns.
A group of Utah County teenagers' efforts to reduce outdoor smoking is taking them to Washington, D.C.
Outrage, an anti-tobacco group sponsored by the Utah County Health Department, won the President's Environmental Youth Award for its support of a smoking ban in parks and outdoor public gatherings.
Jen Tischler, the county's tobacco prevention coordinator and Outrage's adviser, nominated the group . . .
Outrage's members collected signatures from thousands of residents supporting a smoking ban in parks, made presentations to the Board of Health and city councils, and even collected thousands of cigarette butts from parks to illustrate the problem.
Because of Outrage, the county adopted a regulation banning smoking in all parks, except in cities where there is already a smoking ordinance in place. . . .
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As two tobacco tax bills languish on Utah's Capitol Hill, the $4 million fund for advertising and marketing of a smoking cessation program is also being raided.
This combination is especially disturbing to anti-tobacco advocates.
"We knew that every agency was going to have cuts across the board," said Beverly May, regional advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "But this wasn't just a cut -- it was an elimination."
May and others lament the siphoning off of the $4 million, which paid for targeted newspaper, radio and TV ads, along with advocacy work in the schools -- directing smokers to the state's quit-line and discouraging youth from picking up the habit.
The double-whammy against anti-smoking efforts means that the tobacco giants can protect their profits and their market, said Michael Siler, of the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network. He added that as smokers die off, a new crop is needed.
With several cigarette tax increase proposals being considered in the Legislature, lawmakers are considering preventing people from ordering their tobacco from out of state.
Senate Bill 228, sponsored by Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, would allow individuals to purchase tobacco products only from vending machines or local stores.
The questions seemed to make the temperature in the room climb a notch.
"How do you feel about working for a company like that?" And the natural follow-up, "Are you working just for the money?"
On the other end were two men representing Philip Morris, the thriving, black-hatted cigarette maker. They had come, along with a representative of the Utah Taxpayers Association, to lobby the Deseret News editorial board against supporting a cigarette tax hike.
The questions took us off topic. Their pitch was to remove the tax-hike debate from morals and put it onto economic development and good public policy. . . .
But at $3 a pack, Utah would go from having among the lowest cigarette taxes in the nation to having the highest, at least for now. With the recession deepening, other states are bound to turn to this revenue source as one of the few socially acceptable tax hikes available.
Until those states act, however, we have this economic argument: Currently, Wyoming's cigarette tax is 60 cents a pack; Idaho's is 57 cents. If Utah's rises to $3, many of the 16 percent or so who smoke here will make weekend visits to Evanston or Burley to stuff their trunks with cheap smokes. Or at least that's what our visitors said. Vote no and save those poor Utah convenience store clerks who might lose their jobs!
They also wanted to argue that increasing the tax won't reduce the number of smokers, and that any tax increase is bad during a recession. . . .
In all, our guests came up with only one argument that ought to give Utah lawmakers pause. It makes little sense to rely too much on money from a habit that is dying about as quickly as its practitioners. The money won't be reliable.
But that wasn't enough to take away the moral question. Why do you do it? . . .
Gee, what nice guys.
This wasn't the first time Philip Morris sent people to visit us. Each time, I'm left wanting to yell, "Wait! Back up. You manufacture and market what?"
It's hard to cry for these guys. They will sell cigarettes no matter what the cost. It's easy to be honest about how your product kills when people are addicted. And that makes arguments about tax policy and consumer choice give you a coughing fit.
A slimmed-down bid to raise Utah's tobacco tax was beaten back in a Senate committee Thursday as opponents cited fears of forcing smokers out of state to buy cigarettes and concerns about damaging the economy.
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, initially had proposed raising the 69.5-cent-a-pack cigarette tax to $2, but ran into resistance and lowered the boost to $1.30, the national average for nontobacco producing states. . . .
But senators voted 4-3 against the bill, objecting to targeting one group of people and fearing smokers would go elsewhere to buy cigarettes.
"This seems to be a very regressive tax, because people of the lowest income seem to be the ones who are hooked on it," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, president of the business-backed Utah Taxpayers Association.
The vast majority of Utah legislators are devout members of the LDS Church, which counsels against the use of tobacco, and the bills they pass often reflect their religious affiliation. But many of these same lawmakers have no compunction about taking money from tobacco companies.
The Altria Group, parent company of the Phillip Morris tobacco conglomerate, just reported to the lieutenant governor's office that it dumped $42,000 into campaign funds this election cycle, covering both 2007 and 2008.
Besides the 31 representatives and eight senators - Republicans and Democrats - who directly benefited, the House Republican Caucus received $2,500, the House Conservative Caucus got $2,500, the House speaker's political action committee got $5,000, the Senate Republican Caucus $5,000, the Salt Lake County Republican Party $3,000, the Utah County Republican Party $2,500, the Utah Republican Party $2,000, the Senate Democratic Caucus $3,000, the House Democratic Caucus $1,500 and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff $3,000.
Talk about hedging your bets. . . .
All that good corporate cheer may be paying off.
Altria was in the process of buying U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company last legislative session when Rep. Rebecca Lockhart, R-Provo, sponsored a bill to change the way smokeless chewing tobacco was taxed in Utah. Instead of 35 percent of the wholesale price, her bill would tax each can by weight. Since most brands come in 1.2-ounce cans, they all would be taxed the same - 90 cents per can.
That benefited USTC, and its buyer Altria, because they produce Skoal and Copenhagen, the two most popular, and pricey, brands of chewing tobacco. The tax change would reduce the companies' state tax obligation by 15 cents per can, while the cheaper brands made by their competitors would see a tax increase. . . .
Those corporate campaign contributions could pay off in the coming legislative session as well. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, has proposed a $1.35 tax increase per pack of cigarettes. And you can bet that legislators voting on that bill who took contributions from Big Tobacco will be reminded of past generosities, and perhaps future expressions of gratitude.
PROVO - How to make a Pleasant Grove condo complex smoke-free: Ask for and get nearly $5,000 in federal grant money.
Utah County commissioners have agreed to award a $4,225.12 grant to the Gateway Village Homeowners Association. It will be used to craft, promote - it includes holding a support-building barbecue for residents - and distribute a policy banning smoking in the 136-unit development.
But the price tag - it includes $550 in attorney fees - had commissioners wondering.
"I hope they can find some attorney to craft this out of the goodness of his heart," Commission Vice Chairman Larry Ellertson said.
The county's tobacco-prevention specialist, Tyler Plewe, said the cost is justified because it pays for writing a lawsuit-proof policy.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. Thursday vetoed the Commercial Tobacco Free Act that would have banned cigarette smoking and tobacco chewing in all public places on the Navajo Nation, including casinos.
In his veto message to Navajo Nation Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan, Shirley said that although it is indisputable and already widely known that commercial and smokeless tobacco use is harmful to individual users and those affected by secondhand smoke, he was concerned that the ban would infringe upon bona fide religious ceremonies.
The president said the ban also would affect the Nation’s ability to generate revenues through its gaming initiative, did not address concerns of due process and equal protection, and failed to adequately focus on underage smoking.
The law, he said, “is unreasonably broad, unenforceable, provides no administrative appeal process, puts the Nation at a competitive disadvantage, and fails to address the real problem on the Navajo Nation of underage smoking.”
The leader of the Navajo Nation on Thursday vetoed a measure that would have banned smoking and chewing tobacco in public places, resulting in strong criticism from lawmakers and health advocates.
Tribal President Joe Shirley Jr. said he rejected the measure because he feared it would infringe on religious ceremonies and inhibit gambling revenue. He also said the measure didn't focus enough on underage smoking.
Shirley said in his veto message that the law "is unreasonably broad, unenforceable, provides no administrative appeal process, puts the nation at a competitive disadvantage and fails to address the real problem on the Navajo Nation of underage smoking."
Tribal lawmakers approved the ban during their session last month in the Navajo capital of Window Rock, Ariz.
The president of the Navajo Nation has vetoed a ban on smoking and chewing tobacco in public places.
Tribal President Joe Shirley Jr. says he rejected the measure Thursday because he feared it would infringe on religious ceremonies and inhibit gambling revenue.
He also says the measure didn't focus enough on underage smoking.