Recorded presentation

Michael S Givel, PhD, Department of Political Science, The University of Oklahoma, 455 West Lindsey, Room 215, Norman, OK 73019, 405-325-8878, mgivel@ou.edu

In a classic 1994 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, former Maryland tobacco lobbyist Victor Crawford told readers that "....health advocates can't compete with me at the state level. They never could. On the local level, I couldn't compete with them." Is this really true?

Throughout the 1990s, health advocates engaged in significant mobilizations against tobacco use. The tobacco industry counter-mobilized by creating the National Smokers Alliance, a front group, which operated in a significant manner at all levels of government from 1994 to 1999 to promote the legitimacy of freely selling and using tobacco products. This counter-mobilization by the tobacco industry was based on the “consent engineering” theories of Edward Bernays, Harold Lasswell, and others, which called for public relations specialists using scientific principles to prompt people by emotional mass communication appeals (like freedom of choice to smoke) and political advocacy to support a client’s preferred policies. Nevertheless, attempts by the tobacco industry to engineer consent to weaken or neutralize stronger tobacco regulations and taxes were successful only for some campaigns. From 1994 to 1999, the National Smokers Alliance won four and lost one national political campaign; won one and lost three state campaigns; and won 19 and lost 12 local political campaigns. Through astute and vigorous political organizing health advocates can win at all levels of government. No level of government should be ignored in terms of countering preemption and accommodation, enacting higher tobacco taxes, more vigorous tobacco regulations, and effective anti-tobacco education efforts.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate the rationale and argument why anti-tobacco and tobacco control organizing should be accompished primarily at the local level.
• Describe the two primary reasons for the creation in 1993 of the National Smokers Alliance.
• Articulate the "consent engineering" theory utilized by the National Smokers Alliance to promote its political agenda in the 1990s.
• Describe and provide an overview of the four winning and one losing political campaigns waged at the federal level by the National Smokers Alliance from 1994 to 1999.
• Describe and provide an overview of the one winning and three losing political campaigns waged at the state level by the National Smokers Alliance from 1994 to 1999.
• Describe and provide an overview of the 19 winning and 12 losing political campaigns waged at the local level by the National Smokers Alliance from 1994 to 1999.
• Define and articulate the overall pattern of political wins and losses at the federal, state, and local levels from 1994 to 1999 for the National Smokers Alliance.
• Articulate the significance why health advocates should be active and can win at all levels of government (versus one level such as the local level) in order to enact more vigorous tobacco control programs.

Keywords: Tobacco Policy, Tobacco Control

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation