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What can I do?

(OR Don't get mad,

GET JUSTICE!)

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This page was last updated on April 30, 2004 by Frederic W. Grannis Jr. MD

If you are disgusted and angry about what you have read above regarding tobacco companies and politicians (and you should be), the information in this section will provide links to help you take action.

In a democracy, the only way to improve the society is for citizens to become informed on issues and to take effective political action.

• The most important thing that an individual citizen can do to stop the carnage caused by cigarette smoking is to be sure that the politician that he is voting for has not sold out to tobacco interests.

Unfortunately, 79% of pols elected to the senate or house of representatives have taken money from the tobacco industry.

The links provided will help you to look up your senator and representative in a data base and see how much money he has taken. It is important to remember that many sources of tobacco money are hidden in contributions from sources not directly associated with tobacco companies.

The best way to find current information at the present time is to Go to

Buying Influence, Selling Death: Campaign Contributions by Tobacco Interests.
The great feature, courtesy of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, allows you to quickly learn whether your senator or congressman has sold out to the tobacco industry.
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/contributions/
Next, visit Project Vote Smart and follow the simple instructions on this wonderful site. You can find out who your elected officials are, who they have taken money from and how they have voted on legislation. For example, to find the terrible record of Congressman James Rogan on tobacco, you would Click on "Congress" in the left hand column under "Offices",

then click on California on the map.

You would next scroll down the list until you reach James Rogan and click on his name.

Next click on "Campaign Finances" in the upper right corner.

Then scroll down to "More Breakdowns by Category",

then click on "Agriculture" then "tobacco" to see that Rogan has taken $9500 from tobacco company sources in 1999.

Next click on "Voting Record" followed by a click on Tobacco to find that in 1999 Rogan voted in favor of tobacco interests on a law dealing with lawsuits against tobacco companies. Spend some time rummaging around in this wonderful web site. It is an incredibly valuable resource to anyone interested in functioning effectively and voting properly in our democracy.

To get more information, one can go to "Thomas"where comprehensive voting information is available.

THOMAS: Legislative Information on the InternetFinding the information at the THOMAS page is more complex, and I will leave it up to your resourcefullness.

Another resource on Project Vote Smart is special interest group evaluations.

You can also click on " interest group ratings groups". Read down to Health- American Public Health Association. A high rating (100) correlates pretty well with a good record on voting for tobacco control while a low (0) rating usually means a poor record. Rogan scored a 29%, hardly a passing grade in any schoolroom in America.

Another way to access older information 1991-1994) is at Coin-op Congress, scroll to BEST CONGRESS MONEY CAN BUY and enter the name of your senator or congressman. Then click on "show me"; on the next page, click on his/her name. Then click on "Agriculture", then "Tobacco" and you will see the total amount of PAC money he/she took from the tobacco industry.

Mother Jones- Coin Operated Congress

• The next links will allow citizens who live in the state of California to look up their elected state senators and representatives. I don't have sources for other states.

At the American Lung Association of California Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing, just enter your zip code and recieve a report on your elected state senators and assemblypersons.

Tobacco Money and Politics

California

Stanton Glantz has shown that the voting behavior of a politician on tobacco legislation is directly correlated with the amount of money he has taken from tobacco companies.

• The final link will allow you to send an e-mail message to your senator or representative. I suggest that you tell him that you are pleased that he did not take tobacco money, or that you are disappointed that he did take such funds, and that you will not vote for him in the next election. Test this feature now by writing to James Rogan. Tell him that you have looked up his deplorable record on tobacco and that you would not vote for him if you lived in his district.

Congressional Email Directory

U.S. House Of Representatives - Member Directory

You can also send e-mail to a politician at his page in Vote Smart.

PHILANTHROPY
• If you are in a philanthropic mood and would like to donate money to an organization that has active programs in patient care, cancer research, and training, City of Hope National Medical Center, in Duarte, California, where I practice, is a place where your contribution will make an effective contribution to help combat lung cancer City of Hope

In Great Britain, an interesting organization that is soliciting contributions for lung cancer research is the Roy Castle Society at the University of Liverpool.

LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY

Perhaps you have been damaged by tobacco products, and are considering a suit against a tobacco company. An extensive list of firms and lawyers who have been involved in state suits against the tobacco industry can be found at Columbia Journalism Review: Covering Tobacco, A Handbook for Journalists

The Home page of the Tobacco Trial Lawyers Association web site will also help find an attorney with expertise in this area at TTLA

Another group that has enormous experience in this area is Tobacco Products Liability Project is part of the Tobacco Control Resource Center which is located at Northeastern University in Boston. They can be reached at the following E-mail address esweda@lynx.neu.edu

• To encourage support of state based suits against tobacco companies to recover Medicaid funds for money spent treating patients with tobacco related illness try this interesting link from ASH

Action on Smoking and Health ASH

Massachusets Tobacco Control Program Quitnet AIRSPACE Non-Smokers' Rights Society is a Canadian group with some interesting tactics on striking back at Big Tobacco.

Many organizations and companies that are not obviously connected with the tobacco industry are covert allies. Check out this list of "Collaborators" on the Tobacco Bulletin Board. These organizations could benefit from your input or perhaps your boycott. Collaborators

• Another possiblity is Socially Responsible Investing. Tobacco friendly business analysts continue to push tobacco companies as a good buy. Don't be taken in. They are a bad investment both ethically and in your own personal interest. Tobacco stocks have plummeted in value in the past year, and may suffer further reverses in response to lawsuits in coming years. If you or your retirement plan hold tobacco company stocks or mutual funds that own such stock, consider DIVESTMENT, that is, selling those mutual funds that invest in tobacco companies and related stocks. When to sell tobacco stock is an individual decision that will require consideration of your own investments and financial position. To find out if you have tobacco stocks in your mutual fund portfolio, go the the Know What You Own Web Site of the Calvert Group, and click on "tobacco" in the "social screen" box.
• Recently, tobacco companies, terrified by losses in tobacco damages trials, have begun expensive high-profile marketing campaigns to project the image that they have turned over a new leaf and begun to act responsively. These activists didn't permit PM to get away with this lie at their annual meeting. This strategy, "to beard the lion in his own den", has been followed by activists who buy a single share of a tobacco company stock and then go to shareholders meetings to propose resolutions directly to the chief executives of tobacco companies. This web site details one recent such guerilla raid directly into the black heart of PM, the Phillip Morris Shareholders Meeting. PM executives were forced to demonstrate their hypocricy in their responses.

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To read an interesting review of Republican presidential candidate Senator Robert Dole's track record on tobacco try this link. The Nation

Some other sources of information follow:

The Coin-Operated Congress

Welcome to PoliticsUSA

TOBACCO INDUSTRY UNDERMINES PUBLIC HEALTH EFFORTS WORLDWIDE

The simplest way to get information on your Representative is at Smokescreen Smokescreen A new source of information at Smokescreen makes it simple to get this information. Simply type the following URL http://www.smokescreen.org/cgi-win/smokescr.exe/DISPREPS?state=NY. The last two letters represent the mail code for your state, in this case New York. Change these two letters to access the information on your local representatives to congress.

Michael Tacelovsky at Smokescreen has upgraded his system so that you can now not only get the voting record of your federal politician, and the amount of money that he has taken from tobacco PACs, but can quickly write him a note, and FAX it to him. This is the internet at it's best!!!

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