The tobacco industry has always been a major player in congressional campaigns, but a new online map (ash.org/map) shows just how pervasive tobacco money is in politics. The map, produced by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), allows you to click on your home district and see how much money your Member of Congress and Senators have accepted.

“Given the destruction that tobacco causes in this country, it is outrageous that so many politicians accept tobacco money,” said Dr. Alfred Munzer, Chairman of the Board of ASH and former President of the American Lung Association. Dr. Munzer, a pulmonologist, has campaigned for decades against tobacco use. “Roughly 80% of my patients suffer from tobacco-related diseases. No politician should share in the ill-gotten profits of the tobacco industry or owe favors to big tobacco.”

In the nearly 50 years since the 1964 Surgeon General’s report linking smoking with cancer and other diseases, the prevalence of smoking in the U.S. has plummeted, but tobacco still claims the lives of roughly 500,000 Americans each year. Smoking rates are still extremely high in some areas, and approximately 3,000 children start smoking every day.

Globally, tobacco is considered an epidemic by the World Health Organization. About 100 million people died from tobacco in the 20^th century, a toll higher than both world wars combined. The WHO estimates that without dramatic action, tobacco will claim one billion lives this century.

“The United States has joined with the rest of the world in calling for serious action about tobacco, and part of that is acknowledging that the tobacco industry is the vector of the disease,” said ASH director Laurent Huber. The U.S. signed on to a UN political declaration last year that recognizes the need to tackle the tobacco epidemic and highlights “the fundamental conflict of interest between the tobacco industry and public health,” the reason why big tobacco should stay away from public policy. Huber added, “The public interest and the interests of the tobacco industry are diametrically opposed. It is simply unethical for politicians to take tobacco money.”

In addition to the massive health costs of tobacco use, there are dire economic implications. Tobacco disease costs taxpayers, including nonsmokers, hundreds of billions of dollars a year. One study estimated the cost to society of each pack of cigarettes at $18. Stronger tobacco control measures would go a long way toward reducing the deficit and saving medicare.

The tobacco industry is bi-partisan when it comes to buying political favors. Dozens of Democrats as well as Republicans gladly accept donations from tobacco corporations, and for decades members of both parties have returned the favor by voting for tobacco interests. After years of effort, Congress finally gave FDA limited authority over tobacco in 2009, but only after Philip Morris, the number one tobacco industry donor, said it was OK. Even now the tobacco industry seeks to undermine the effectiveness of FDA regulation.

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The website, www.tobacco.money.com, also encourages lawmakers and legislative candidates in Oklahoma to sign a pledge to not accept campaign contributions, meals or other gifts from any tobacco company political action committee or from any registered lobbyist for a tobacco company or tobacco trade association.

Dr. Robert McCaffree, co-director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center, said a clear correlation exists between tobacco industry contributions and the suppression or opposition of legislation intended to reduce tobacco use in the state.

Since 2006, state legislators now in office have accepted $242,719 in campaign contributions, meals and other gifts from tobacco lobbyists and tobacco company political action committees, according to the website. Nine representatives and 11 senators have accepted at least $3,000.

The website’s author, Doug Matheny, is the former director of tobacco prevention at the state Health Department; he retired in February 2011 after 28 years of service. “For decades, we’ve watched tobacco lobbyists manage to kill bills they oppose and pass bills they support,” he said.

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“The tobacco industry is seeing a major return on its investment in Oklahoma’s political system,” said Robert McCaffree, MD, Co-Director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center. “There’s a clear correlation between tobacco industry contributions and the suppression or opposition of legislation intended to reduce tobacco use in our state, particularly among legislators accepting campaign contributions from tobacco company PAC’s.”

Since 2006, Oklahoma state legislators now in office have accepted $242,719 in campaign contributions, meals and other gifts from current tobacco lobbyists and tobacco company PAC’s. Separately, over $50,000 has been accepted by various statewide House or Senate election committees. The highest total amount taken since 2006 by any individual representative is $6,298 and by any individual senator is $11,239. Nine representatives and 11 senators have accepted a total of $3,000 or more.

“The more light we can shine on industry efforts to stop meaningful tobacco prevention measures, the less effective those efforts will be,” says Laurent Huber, executive director of Action on Smoking & Health (ASH). A national leader in the fight on tobacco, ASH is focused this election year on political contributions. “Oklahoma’s website is a model we hope to help replicate in all states, said Huber.”

According to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, there are 11 individuals currently registered to lobby the Oklahoma legislature on behalf of tobacco companies or tobacco industry trade associations. The tobacco lobbyists and listings of their clients are shown on the website.

“For decades, we’ve watched tobacco lobbyists manage to kill bills they oppose and pass bills they support,” said Doug Matheny, the website’s author. “Even if it never influenced legislation, money distributed by tobacco lobbyists should be refused as a matter of principle. Accepting money or gifts from representatives of an industry that addicts young people to deadly products is inconsistent with Oklahoma values. Most tobacco lobbyists in Oklahoma take direct orders from companies that federal courts recently found guilty of racketeering.” Matheny is the former director of tobacco prevention at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. He retired in February 2011 after 28 years of service.

“Speaking on behalf of physicians now starting practices in Oklahoma, our legislators need to take a stand for health,” said Chris Sudduth, MD, MPH of Tulsa. Dr. Sudduth is Chair of the Oklahoma State Medical Association Resident and Fellow Section. “These powerful tobacco lobbyists and their money should be rejected. Business as usual must change.”

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Top Recipients of Tobacco Lobby Money in the Oklahoma House of Representatives*

Top Recipients of Tobacco Lobby Money in the Oklahoma Senate*

* Since January 1, 2006

Health & Economic Impact of Tobacco in Oklahoma*

• Number one cause of preventable disease and premature death, killing an estimated 6,000 Oklahomans each year.
• For every person who dies from tobacco use, another 20 are suffering with at least one serious tobacco-caused disease.
• The vast majority of tobacco users become addicted as young people. If current trends continue, an estimated 87,000 Oklahoma youth alive today will ultimately die early from smoking.
• Most current tobacco users in Oklahoma want to quit and have tried many times.
• Every pack of cigarettes sold costs Oklahoma’s economy an estimated $7.62 in medical expenses and lost productivity caused by premature death and disease.

Federal Racketeering Conviction of Major Tobacco Companies*

• On August 17, 2006, Philip Morris, Altria, R.J. Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, Lorillard, American Tobacco, and British American Tobacco Company were found guilty in U.S. District Court of racketeering and conducting a conspiracy. The decision noted that they have not ceased engaging in unlawful activity and that “their continuing conduct misleads consumers in order to maximize Defendants revenues by recruiting new smokers (the majority of whom are under the age of 18), preventing current smokers from quitting, and thereby sustaining the industry.”
• On May 22, 2009, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a unanimous opinion upholding the District Court judgment.
• On June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals in the case, thereby allowing the federal racketeering conviction to stand.

ABOUT TOBACCOMONEY.COM

The purpose of tobaccomoney.com is to help expose and eliminate the influence of the tobacco industry in the Oklahoma State Legislature through public awareness and by encouraging the refusal of all campaign contributions and gifts from all registered tobacco lobbyists and tobacco company PAC’s. No disrespect towards any individual person is intended. The databases on the website are compiled using information available to the public from the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. For more information, please contact Doug Matheny at contact@tobaccomoney.com or 405-474-8381.