Tobacco Documents Online

A portion of this memo sent to David Laufer (Communications Director) at Philip Morris shows intent to use PM's "It's the Law" (youth access) program participants to oppose a proposed retail fee which would fund monitoring of tobacco sales to youth.

This adds to the evidence showing that the tobacco industry's "youth access" programs actually work against public health goals.

In this 1994 letter, the medical director of a major cancer treatment center in Florida writes to Ellen Merlo (Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Philip Morris) to say that smoking saves the government money by causing early deaths. Dr. Carlos Dominguez, Medical Director of the Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami Beach, Florida says that people who don't die of lung cancer will instead live longer and die of other illnesses and that "...obviously the state of Florida and the Federal Government will also have to spend the money to take care of the patient and in the meantime the patient lives an extra ten to twenty years as a retired person, collecting retirement benefits and not paying taxes. So, therefore in the long run, smoking is cheaper for the government."