Free-Market Groups and the Tobacco Industry – Full Database

American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) has opposed tobacco taxes, plain packaging and a number of other tobacco control regulations, which public health authorities agree reduce smoking. In 2010, the group attempted to dissuade the Australian government from enacting plain packaging laws, arguing they would violate international trade rules. The same year, Alec’s board of directors approved a resolution calling on the Obama administration to oppose plain packaging rules worldwide, according to documents obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy. In 2016, Alec also signed a letter to the World Health Organization opposing plain packaging. Additionally, Alec passed resolutions which would directly benefit snus manufacturers, a type of smokeless tobacco. In 2017, the group wrote to the US Food and Drug Administration in support of IQOS, a product Philip Morris hopes to sell in the US market as less risky than cigarettes. PR Watch reported in 2014 that “tobacco conglomerate Philip Morris/Altria gave Alec $1,426,700 between 1995 and 2010 – significantly more than the approximately $50,000 a year it was previously reported to have given Alec.” PR Watch also reported that Reynolds American, maker of Camel cigarettes, “gave Alec $688,250 between 1995 and 1998 and in 2010”.