Tobacco industry activity in Arizona

In this April, 1999 Philip Morris email, PM's Arizona public relations consultant Joanne Ralston discusses efforts to defeat smoking ordinances in the southern Arizona towns of Tucson, Douglas and Tombstone and Pima County. Ralston says that county supervisors in Pima are "...hiding behind the 'health issue' and are "likely to go forward with a ban stronger than Tucson." She expresses frustration with the Arizona Restaurant Association (ARA) over their refusal to act as a PM third party ally, saying

"'ARA Tucson is weak...and not wired into supervisors at all. We offered help with a phone bank and they rejected it because we'd have to say 'Philip Morris.' Tucson bars also offered to help and were rejected by ARA/Tucson, which didn't want to be connected to tobacco and alcohol ... So that's why I'm having trouble getting op-eds signed by Tucson restaurant folks.'"

Ralston concludes that the Arizona Restaurant Association has "a serious head in the sand mentality," and complains about the restaurant owners' realization that they, and not PM, would be the ones to bear the cost of PM's proposed "ventilation" solutions:

"'... We have a model ordinance, but it requires ventilation, negative airflow over smoking sections...and minimum size requirements. Tucson ARA won't buy it. Their attitude is that we'd [be] spending their money, sans facing cost reality of separate facility vs. ventilation.'"

Ralston continues,

"I have asked PM to bring in Will Fox and put him on the ground in Douglas and Tombstone to stir up a firestorm of local opposition and Ginny is working on it."

Related Sourcewatch resources

 * Tobacco industry public relations strategies
 * Tobacco industry legislation