It’s all about the money!

The report from the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says Ohio is spending less than 5 percent of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on tobacco prevention programs. That ranks Ohio 45th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in spending on such programs.

Should any government agency be advocating giving tax dollars to any lobby group. Isn’t that part of the budget problem. Especially since they get funding from one of the biggest lobby groups in the world “Big Pharma”.

Globalink -an international tobacco control list-serve and discussion site – appears to now be sponsored by Pfizer. The logo for Pfizer appears on the Globalink main page, together with logos from other sponsors, including the UICC (International Union Against Cancer), the Rockefeller Foundation, and Sun Microsystems.

Former Tobacco Control activist Dr. Michael Siegel has plenty to say about money and the tobacco control Movement.

Well it turns out that this was actually the worst thing that could have ever happened to the tobacco control movement. Money corrupts and that’s exactly what happened to the movement. It was all about money and prestige and basic principles were forgotten. The grassroots social movement that tobacco control once was has been destroyed.

I am no longer going to deceive myself into thinking that I can change the movement and restore its integrity. I am going to have to be content with documenting the downfall of the movement and hoping that my chronicling of this story will do a service to the public by helping social movements in the future to avoid this fate.

P.S. Today is the Great American Smoke up!
Offer your favorite anti a smoke!