Tobacco joins anti-smoking drive

Publication Date: 2006-06-01

• Author:Mary Jo Pitzl
• Publication:Arizona Republic

The tobacco industry has opened its pocketbook and put $10,000 into an anti-smoking campaign that was launched last week.

RJ Reynolds made the contribution to the Arizona Non-Smoker Protection Committee.

That group, with an initial $11,000 contribution from the Arizona Licensed Beverage Association, announced it was pushing a ballot measure that would ban smoking in most public indoor spaces, including all workplaces. Exceptions could include bars and tobacco shops. . . .

But leaders of the Smoke Free Arizona campaign, which is proposing a more extensive smoking ban, said the tobacco money is proof that the latest ballot effort is an effort to confuse voters about smoking bans and ultimately defeat any effort to further restrict smoking.