NATO assesses Nov. 7 results, aims to change public opinion about tobacco

A campaign to change public opinion about tobacco is the next big project for the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, Tom Briant, the association’s executive director told NPN MarketPulse in an interview this week.

The association, based in Minneapolis, will partner in the effort with The Heartland Institute in Chicago, a national non-profit public policy organization, Briant said. The project is expected to be a multi-year effort beginning in 2007, and will include press releases, letters to editors and a campaign to win coverage in magazines and journals, Briant said.

As for the results of Nov. 7 balloting, tobacco retailers won some and lost others, as tobacco questions were decided in six states. In the NATO win column was the defeat of Proposition 86, a measure that would have hiked the cigarette tax in California by $2.60 per pack.

In the NATO loss column, three states adopted statewide smoking bans: Arizona, Nevada and Ohio. In each state, voters had a choice of less restrictive versus more restrictive smoking bans, and in each case they adopted the more restrictive version, Briant noted.

“We will certainly work to try and prevent similar statewide smoking bans from being adopted in other states,” Briant said, “because we believe the owners of bars and restaurants should have the right to determine how they accommodate their customers and not have government dictate those kinds of regulations.”

Here is a state-by-state rundown of the results, with comment on some by Briant.

Arizona
Question 201 passed: Prohibits smoking in most workplaces and increases the cigarette tax by two cents a pack. Allows smoking in tobacco stores, veterans and private clubs, designated hotel rooms and outdoor patios of restaurants and bars. NATO and its members opposed this question.

Question 206 defeated: Supported by NATO, it would have allowed smoking in more hospitality establishments.

Question 203 passed: Increases the cigarette tax (however, the ballot question stated the cigarette tax would increase eight-tenths of one cent per pack when the amount intended was 80 cents per pack; a determination on the amount of the increase has not been made). Raises the tax on smokeless and smoking tobacco by $.09/ounce, increases the tax on little cigars by $.178/pack and raises the tax on large cigars by $.088/cigar.

“The attorney general’s office made a mistake and we don’t know how the Arizona Department of Revenue is going to interpret that,” Briant said of Question 203. “From past history I believe they’ll have to only increase the tax by eight-tenths of one cent per pack because that is what the voters voted on. They did not vote on 80 cents per pack.”

California
Proposition 86 defeated: This question would have increased cigarette taxes by $2.60/pack and raised the OTP tax to approximately 135 percent. NATO opposed this question.

“We’re very pleased that California voters understood that the large hospital corporations were trying to significantly pad their bottom lines through this proposed $2.60 a pack cigarette tax increase,” Briant said.

Missouri
Question 3 defeated: This question would have increased cigarette taxes by 80 cents per pack and raised the OTP tax by 20 percent. NATO opposed this question.

Nevada
Question 4 defeated: This less restrictive smoking ban question was not passed. NATO supported this question.

Question 5 passed: This question passed and does not allow smoking in most public places and hospitality establishments; smoking is allowed in casinos and hotel rooms.

Ohio
Question 4 defeated: This less restrictive smoking ban question was not passed. NATO supported this question.

Question 5 passed: This question passed and does not allow smoking in most public places and hospitality establishments; smoking is allowed in retail tobacco stores, hotel rooms, non-profit private clubs (veterans clubs, etc.) and outdoor patios of restaurants and bars.

South Dakota
Measure 2 passed: This question will increase cigarette taxes by $1.00 per pack to $1.53 per pack and raise the OTP tax to 35 percent. NATO opposed this tax increase question.

Briant said passage of Measure 2 “will have a negative impact on South Dakota retailers, with people turning to the Internet for cross-border sales to find less expensive alternatives for cigarette and tobacco products.”