tobacco

Tobacco Control Bills Are Dead, Clearing Way for County Tobacco Licensing

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A frustrated Sen. Mark Hass spiked two tobacco bills that had dominated his work in the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee after none of the stakeholders would reach a reasonable compromise. Now Multnomah County will likely move ahead with its own licensure program, with Benton and Lane counties possibly to follow.

Sen. Mark Hass has killed the tobacco control bills this session, telling The Lund Report that a lack of compromise on all fronts and division among stakeholders, even among those who were natural allies, had left him with nowhere to go.

By: 
Chris Gray

Hass Works On Tobacco License Deal as Senate Bans E-Cigs for Minors

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The e-cigarette legislation puts the devices in the Clean Indoor Air Act, without anything but a temporary exception for testing the products in vape stores. That conflicts with a bargain being worked out between Sen. Hass and Sen. Boquist to license and regulate retail tobacco and e-cigarettes through the Department of Revenue.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly if belatedly Monday to ban e-cigarettes for minors and include them alongside most tobacco smoking in the Oregon Clean Indoor Air Act, but the passage of House Bill 2546 is unlikely to be the last word on tobacco control this session or the indoor air act.

By: 
Chris Gray

Courtney Leads Legislators in Tobacco Campaign Cash

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Despite a voting record that has not been friendly to tobacco companies, Senate President Peter Courtney once again raised a sizable pot of cash from the parent company of Philip Morris. His support will be critical to a series of bills designed to reduce smoking and better regulate the sale of cigarettes. This story is part two in a three-part series on healthcare-related Oregon state campaign finance contributions.

Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, took in more money from tobacco companies in 2014 than any other Oregon politician, raking in $10,000 from Altria Client Services, the parent company of Philip Morris, which manufactures of Marlboro cigarettes.

By: 
Chris Gray and Jen Kruse

Big Tobacco Investment in Oregon Legislators Pays off in 2014 Session

cigarettes
A look at campaign finances shows Altria Client Services, the parent company of tobacco giant Philip Morris, unloaded $85,500 on the Oregon Legislature in the months before the 2013 session, including big donations to Senate President Peter Courtney and Sen. Betsy Johnson, the conservative Democrat from Scappoose. Johnson joined fellow tobacco-supported politicians such as Sen. Jackie Winters to kill a bill that would have cost Philip Morris millions.

America’s largest tobacco company made a big investment in Oregon legislators before the 2013 session and walked away with a legislative victory when a bill died on the Senate floor that would have sent unclaimed money from class-action lawsuits into an account for legal services for the poor.

By: 
Christopher David Gray

Monsanto, Tobacco Companies Big Winners in Special Legislative Session

The Lund Report
The author doesn’t have much faith in the task force that’ll address the difficult issues created by GMOs because the health risks aren’t being analyzed.

 

OPINION – October 14, 2013 -- The state legislature’s special session is over, and the “Grand Bargain” has been struck. In terms of personal interest in the embattled package, I had more than a dog in this fight. I had an entire kennel.

By: 
Rick North

For the Convenience of the Tobacco Companies

The Lund Report
It’s time the Obama Administration stood up to the promotion of cigarettes and stop caving into the industry.

 

OPINION -- September 4, 2013 -- Oregon holds the dubious distinction of ranking number one in the country for retailers illegally selling cigarettes to underage kids. Moreover, we have ranked number one three out of the past five years and ranked in the top five the other two years.

By: 
Rick North

House Passes Bill Allowing County Cigarette Taxes

The Lund Report
Rep. Mitch Greenlick tells The Lund Report he would like the threat of county-by-county taxes to be used as leverage for a statewide cigarette tax increase, which would still assist county health departments.

 

April 5, 2013 — Oregon counties are one step closer to adopting their own cigarette taxes, after the House voted 31-29 to remove a statute from state law that precludes any entity but the state from taxing tobacco.

By: 
Christopher David Gray

Oregon Legislators Want to Ban Smoking in Cars with Kids

The Lund Report
Secondhand smoke in cars is 27 percent more concentrated than in smoker’s homes, according to the California EPA

February 21, 2013 -- Republican Rep. Jim Thompson of Dallas said that enacting a ban on smoking in cars with children isn’t about restricting personal choice. It’s about shielding those who don’t have a choice to be around secondhand smoke.

By: 
Christopher David Gray

Tomei Wants Tobacco Money Spent on Prevention

The Lund Report
The state has received $1 billion from the tobacco master settlement agreement, but thus far that money has not gone to tobacco prevention

February 20, 2013 -- In a landmark lawsuit brought by state attorneys general in 1998, the major tobacco companies settled with the states for $206 billion to compensate them for decades of false advertising while selling a product that causes cancer and has greatly increased public health costs,

By: 
Christopher David Gray

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