Victories and Setbacks
The November elections resulted in key victories over proposed cigarette and tobacco tax increases while restrictive smoking bans were adopted in several states. Two major victories came in California and Missouri.
In California, Proposition 86 would have increased cigarette taxes by $2.60 per pack and the tax on other tobacco products would have been raised to approximately 135 percent of the wholesale price. The voters defeated this unfair and unreasonable tax increase and NATO worked with numerous industry partners to oppose this ballot question.
A similar fate was in store for the Missouri ballot question, which would have raised the cigarette tax by 80 cents a pack and increased the OTP tax by another 20 percent. Just as in California, voters rejected these tax increases and NATO played a role in helping its retail members educate the public about the unfairness of imposing higher taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products.
Unlike California and Missouri, South Dakota voters approved a ballot measure that will increase cigarette taxes by a dollar per pack and also raise the OTP tax to 35 percent.
On the other hand, statewide smoking bans were adopted by voters in Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio. Despite the fact that NATO supported less restrictive smoking ban ballot questions in Nevada and Ohio, the more prohibitive bans were approved.
Changing Public Opinion
For almost a decade, the tobacco industry and the retailers selling tobacco products have been demonized by the anti-tobacco groups. Using funds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement plus contributions from other private organizations, the anti-tobacco industry has flourished and expounded its message through the media. If a trade group or an individual defends consumers who enjoy tobacco products, then they, too, are denigrated as being evil.
NATO intends to launch a significant effort to change this perception about tobacco and the tobacco industry. The stage has been set to put a plan into action that will endeavor to change public opinion about tobacco and NATO is going to play a leading role in this effort.
For some time, The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit public policy organization (or “think tank”), has researched how anti-tobacco groups have misrepresented facts, distorted studies, and demonized the tobacco industry. The disinformation and falsehoods disseminated by these anti-tobacco activists have become accepted as “fact” by the media and the public.
In September, Joseph Bast, the president of The Heartland Institute, spoke to retailers and manufacturers attending the annual Smoker Friendly Trade Show. I was also in attendance to hear Bast’s remarks. He discussed the Institute’s research, which shows that the studies relied upon by the anti-tobacco activists contain “scant evidence” supporting the claims about secondhand smoke. He also confirmed that the cost smokers impose on society is far less than the taxes they pay on tobacco products.
During his presentation at the trade show, Joe Bast referred to a series of essays he has written on tobacco issues. These essays have now been compiled into a book published by the Institute and titled Please Don’t Poop in My Salad and Other Essays Opposing the War Against Smoking.
Moreover, Joe Bast spoke about the need for an organization to partner with The Heartland Institute and begin a campaign to challenge the distorted facts and lies about tobacco and the tobacco industry. The organization best suited to take on this critically important task is NATO.
In the 1976 movie “Network, ” the memorable line, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore,” would be a fitting subtitle for the book "Please Don’t Poop in My Salad." All of us in the industry—manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers—acknowledge that the anti-tobacco zealots have gone too far by using junk science and exaggerated claims to further their attacks on the tobacco industry and the hardworking retailers who make a living by selling tobacco products.
So, the NATO Board of Directors has decided that the association will partner with The Heartland Institute to bring a more reasonable and balanced perception of tobacco to the American public. Will the effort be easy? Absolutely not. Is the effort necessary? Unequivocally yes.
While the details of the plan are still being formulated, the multi-year campaign will begin in 2007 and include newspaper commentary letters-to-the-editor, articles published in magazines and journals, and press releases on current tobacco issues in the news. The effort will be intense and grow in intensity each successive year.
There is a real need to step up and support smokers’ rights and the freedom to buy and use legal tobacco products. The essays in Please Don’t Poop in My Salad present a compelling case against the anti-tobacco extremists and those that support ridiculously high cigarette and tobacco taxes. NATO intends to step in and protect these rights and begin to set the record straight.
If you would like a complimentary copy of the book, please e-mail NATO at info@natocentral.org. Once you finish reading this slim volume (which will take less than an hour), we encourage you to pass the book onto employees, friends, and neighbors. Only through an extensive public education campaign will we begin to change public opinion.
Register for the Tobacco Plus Expo
The N.A.T.O. Conference and Expo trade show, which is owned and operated by the partners of Tobacco Outlet Business Magazine, has been renamed the “Tobacco Plus Expo.” While NATO will continue to host the NATO Annual Awards Dinner the night before the trade show opens, the new name reflects the broader focus of the show to include more tobacco accessories and non-tobacco merchandise. The addition of more non-tobacco merchandise will benefit buyers from tobacco outlets, as well as other kinds of retailers that sell tobacco products who are looking to expand their product mix.
You can register for Tobacco Plus Expo online at
https://www.smart-reg.com/web-reg/tpe07/
NATO members should mark their calendars to attend the NATO Annual Awards Dinner at the Las Vegas Hilton on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, and then visit the Tobacco Plus Expo show on April 26-27, 2007, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Welcome
NATO welcomes as new members Church Point Wholesale, Kaiser Wholesale, National Honey Almond, New Orleans Gator Group, Service Sense, and U.S.A. Tobacco Company. •