It's All Smoke
Posted by Steve Frazier
Our Program on June 15th was presented by Mike Sheldon from ClearWay Minnesota.
His organization was funded by the money paid to the State of Minnesota as a result of the suit against the tobacco industry. They are by definition a lobbying organization which presents information about the dangers of using tobacco. Mike had two handouts including a printout of his Powerpoint presentation, which he couldn't use on the boat.
Even though advertising is strictly regulated by federal law, the cigarette industry spends over $200,000,000 per year in promotional funds and advertising in Minnesota. Much of the funding is target marketing money aiming at the young teens and the black male market. Sponsorship of events and sporting programs give the publicity that the industry needs to continue to sell the products. In Minnesota now, 17% of the population smokes, making us the fifth highest user of tobacco products. However, just over 28% of young adults (age 18 to 24) smoke. A small bright spot in the statistics: the average age at which a kid starts smoking has been increasing. To get to the kids, the tobacco companies are sponsoring 4H groups and Boys and Girls Clubs, as well as many music concerts and sporting events.
In addition to continuing their cigarette lines, the companies have become very innovative. They have developed "little cigars" which are really cigarettes, but because of the paper used to hold the tobacco, they are taxed at a much lower rate than cigarettes. They have added sweet flavors to tobacco products to appeal to the younger crowd, and changed the form of the tobacco from the familiar ones to make smokeless tobacco products look like breath mints, and other candy products.
His organization was funded by the money paid to the State of Minnesota as a result of the suit against the tobacco industry. They are by definition a lobbying organization which presents information about the dangers of using tobacco. Mike had two handouts including a printout of his Powerpoint presentation, which he couldn't use on the boat.
Even though advertising is strictly regulated by federal law, the cigarette industry spends over $200,000,000 per year in promotional funds and advertising in Minnesota. Much of the funding is target marketing money aiming at the young teens and the black male market. Sponsorship of events and sporting programs give the publicity that the industry needs to continue to sell the products. In Minnesota now, 17% of the population smokes, making us the fifth highest user of tobacco products. However, just over 28% of young adults (age 18 to 24) smoke. A small bright spot in the statistics: the average age at which a kid starts smoking has been increasing. To get to the kids, the tobacco companies are sponsoring 4H groups and Boys and Girls Clubs, as well as many music concerts and sporting events.
In addition to continuing their cigarette lines, the companies have become very innovative. They have developed "little cigars" which are really cigarettes, but because of the paper used to hold the tobacco, they are taxed at a much lower rate than cigarettes. They have added sweet flavors to tobacco products to appeal to the younger crowd, and changed the form of the tobacco from the familiar ones to make smokeless tobacco products look like breath mints, and other candy products.