Big Tobacco Wins Another Hand
By Frizell Bailey
Wisconsin is smoking. Sometimes it seems that you can’t throw a brick out of a window without striking a smoker. Don’t get me wrong. I have no particular beef with either smokers or non-smokers. In fact, I smoke. The irony is not lost on me (I do, however, like to think of myself as “recovering”).
It is a curious thing that so many people, especially young people, take up a habit we all know is bad for you. I suppose the same can be said of alcohol, pot, or any other drug you would like to name. But there’s a difference. These other drugs make you feel good pretty much right off the bat. On the other hand, you have to really want to smoke to become a smoker. I can’t speak for everyone, but those first few cigarettes required an awful lot of persistence and commitment.
So, why are so many Wisconsinites sucked in by smoking?
In 1891 a law was passed restricting the sale of cigarettes to minors. The law was rarely enforced. One University of Wisconsin student in 1912, in his thesis about unenforced laws in the state, lamented that “No tobacco man stops to question a youth who asks for a package of tobacco whether he is old enough to smoke, and few dealers refuse it even to small boys whom the dealer cannot help knowing are too young to smoke.” In 1959 the law was actually repealed by the legislature.
It wasn’t until the late eighties that the law would be placed back on the books. In 1988, Wisconsin was one of only nine states that allowed the sale of cigarettes to minors. A study released in 2000 by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine ranked Wisconsin 49th, just ahead of North Carolina, in the sale of tobacco to minors. But why has it been so difficult passing tobacco control laws in Wisconsin?
All in the lobby.
As we all know, money equals power and influence. And the tobacco industry certainly has a little to spare. According to a report entitled, “Influence of the Tobacco Industry on Wisconsin Tobacco Control Policies”, released by the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, the tobacco industry has been especially successful in its lobbying efforts in Wisconsin. The report states that the tobacco lobby has spent over $7.2 million on lobbying the state legislature since 1997.
How do they do it? By covering all bases. In Wisconsin, as is probably true in most states, the tobacco industry has been like that slightly shady but always fun uncle that gave all the kids money and toys. The tobacco lobby in Wisconsin contributes to individual elected officials and candidates, as well as to the two political parties and campaign committees. Although they make contributions to both major parties, the party in the majority generally gets the lion’s share. From the beginning of the year in 1999 to the fall of 2002, the tobacco industry contributed $23,700 to the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and $10,750 to the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate. In the state assembly the tobacco lobby spent a total of $111,285. The Republicans in the State Assembly got $88,237, while the Democrats received $23,048.
Think you’re immune? Think you’d be able to resist the wads of cash? Well, do you like baseball? What about the performing arts? The tobacco industry also makes donations to many local events and organizations. Between 1995 and 1999, Philip Morris alone donated millions to such laudable causes as the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Fighting Hunger, and the Milwaukee Dance Theatre. Of course, let’s not forget Miller Park. Phillip Morris owns the majority stake in Miller Brewing Co., and agreed to pay $20 million for the naming rights to the ballpark. There was only one stipulation: smoking had to be permitted.
Gone in a puff…
Last year the state sold its share of the national tobacco settlement to bonders for an upfront lump sum of $1.3 billion. The state later used this money to balance the budget. This means that the state will not again start receiving money from the settlement for another 24 years. After being elected to office, Governor Doyle proposed a plan to buy back some of the settlement payments which he said would give the state $2 million annually for anti-tobacco efforts. As yet, the proposal has not been adopted, and it seems unlikely that it will in the foreseeable future.
So what would have meant $230 billion for the state over the next 25 years is now gone. Although the original intent of the tobacco settlement was to reimburse states for costs, particularly health costs, attributable to smoking, as part of the settlement, the tobacco companies were able to insure that settlement funds would go to states’ general funds rather than funds dedicated to health cost or anti-smoking campaigns. None of the $1.3 billion went to reimburse Medicaid. It might now appear to some that the tobacco companies had clairvoyants on retainer along with their lawyers.
The state legislature has recently voted to cut funding by $5 million for the next fiscal year for anti-tobacco efforts, and to eliminate the Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board.
Last year’s legislative session saw cuts in this area from $25 million to $15 million. Governor Doyle had proposed holding anti-tobacco funding steady at $15 million, but with a $3.2 billion state budget deficit many legislators felt trimming funding was the only decision they could make.
Enemies of the (Big Tobacco) State.
Senator Carol Roessler, regarded by many as a champion and friend of the state’s anti-tobacco campaign, admits that the reduction in funding is regretful, but is optimistic that funding will eventually be returned to that of previous years. Roessler is one of only a handful of members of the legislature who received no contributions from tobacco companies and their allies.
“It’s unfortunate that we find a reduction of another $5 million, but we have $10 million to work with. Our anti-tobacco efforts must continue. I feel that at another time we’ll be able to bring that (funding) back up to at least $15 million. But that’s where it stands for now. We need to take what we have and make it work,” says Roessler.
Others close to the anti-tobacco movement are not quite as optimistic. David Gunderson, of the now dismantled Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board, is skeptical that further cuts will not be made. The day we spoke would be his last day in this office. The functions of Tobacco Control Board are being phased into the Department of Health and Human Services, which is where he soon will be. Gunderson believes that the future of anti-tobacco efforts in Wisconsin will be dependent on the success of the programs and the failure of the tobacco lobby.
“If the program isn’t a success, if we don’t see smoking rates go down, if we don’t see policy change there are not going to be many people advocating for us to get dollars” says Gunderson. “So at the core is success. I feel like we’ve done some pretty strong work and success is coming.”
Smoke on this (postscript).
It’s been 24 hours since I smoked my last cigarette. Doing this story has really forced me to consider why I engage in a behavior that I know is hazardous to my health. And the truth is that I can’t really point to any particular benefits to smoking. Can anyone really even describe the high that a cigarette gives you? I don’t intend this to be preachy or imply that smokers are bad people. I like smoking. But I also like riding my bike and running. I haven’t really been able to do much of either in quite a while. And I guess I did make a promise.
