Goldman, R.; Culley, L.; Maheras, J.
This 1999 internal Philip Morris (PM) email describes PM's exhaustive behind-the-scene efforts to defeat a local smoke-free ordinance proposed in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1999. The email reveals many of PM's strategies for fighting these measures while remaining unseen. Some tactics include:
1) Introducing many confusing amendments to the ordinance and getting a city council member to carry them.
2) Claiming afterwards that the ordinance is now so complicated that it must be postponed, sent to a work session or requires extra study.
3) Inserting ventilation language into the measure.
4) Having employees of Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds flood city hall with calls against the ordinance.
5) Placing letters to the editor and op-eds in local papers.
6) Placing petitions in bars and restaurants,
7) Involving Philip Morris's front group, the National Smokers Alliance (NSA) in protesting the ordinance,
8) Keeping lobbyists from multiple cigarette manufacturing companies "on the ground" in the town where such a measure is being considered.
The email shows that even this gargantuan level of corporate interference can't decrease the popularity of smoke-free laws. The email indicates that despite all their efforts, the cigarette companies were still losing in Santa Fe:
"Councilors say they have been getting overwhelmed with calls, but still the yes calls outweigh the no. Both PM and RJR are calling..."
The measure ultimately passed in Santa Fe despite all the clandestine political interference from cigarette companies.