robbster 07 Nov 2007 11:00 am
Tobacco Industry Puts Profits Before Kids in Defeating Oregon Ballot Initiative
Statement of William V. Corr, Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — By telling $12 million
worth of lies, the Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds tobacco companies have
again protected their profits at the expense of children by defeating a
ballot initiative to increase Oregon’s cigarette tax and fund health care
for children. The tobacco companies will profit by selling more cigarettes,
while Oregonians will pay a terrible price with more kids addicted to
tobacco, more lives lost and more kids without health care.
Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds opposed this initiative because they
know that increasing the cigarette tax is one of the most effective ways to
reduce smoking, especially among children, and they also know that the
public strongly supports increasing the cigarette tax. These tobacco
companies knew they couldn’t win by arguing against the cigarette tax
increase, so they spent a record $12 million to change the subject and
deceive the voters of Oregon. In fact, the tobacco companies made this
election about anything but the cigarette tax increase, which is the one
issue they truly cared about.
Throughout the campaign, media reports regularly exposed the industry’s
deceptive tactics, including the creation of an industry-funded front group
– Oregonians Against the Blank Check; RJR’s distribution of a mass-mailed
letter that appeared to come from a first-grade teacher but was mailed from
the office of the company’s lobbyist; and false claims in TV ads. The
tobacco companies’ ads falsely claimed that the money raised would not be
spent on children’s health care and manufactured controversy about amending
the Oregon Constitution despite the fact it has similarly been amended many
times (and the tobacco companies themselves have proposed constitutional
amendments in other states). The $12 million spent by Philip Morris and
R.J. Reynolds more than doubled the previous record for an Oregon ballot
initiative and was nearly four times what proponents of the initiative
spent.Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds should be held accountable for the high
cost in health, lives and money that the people of Oregon will pay. Because
this measure was defeated, 29,000 more kids will become smokers, 13,000
lives will be lost to tobacco-caused disease, and Oregon will pay $662
million more in long-term health care costs. In addition, more than 100,000
deserving Oregon children will go without the health coverage Measure 50
would have provided.
The Oregon outcome does not change the fact that the public strongly
supports increasing tobacco taxes. National and state polls across the
country show overwhelming support for tobacco tax increases — support that
extends across party lines, from smokers and non-smokers alike, throughout
all regions. Since Jan. 1, 2002, 44 states, Puerto Rico and the District of
Columbia have increased their cigarette tax rates more than 75 times –
more than doubling the national average cigarette tax from 43.4 cents to
$1.09 a pack. Increasing federal and cigarette taxes remains one of the
most effective ways to reduce smoking, especially among kids, and the
public will continue to support it.
SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
