Tobacco Scam: Smokefree Restaurants: Ventilation Hoax

How does Big Tobacco get researchers, scientists, and engineers to promote ventilation "non-solutions" and testify against smokefree measures?

1. In every profession, a certain number of practitioners can be bought. Big Tobacco buys them.

2. Shilling for Big Tobacco is lucrative. With $20 billion in U.S. tobacco sales at stake, opportunists rally to take Big Tobacco's money "before someone else."

3. Many of Big Tobacco's hired guns are purposely kept at arm's length, paid through law firms or fronts to preserve deniability and credibility.

Have lighter, will travel...

Big Tobacco's ventilation strategy has two components:

1. It generates scientific-sounding noise dismissing the health effects of secondhand smoke.

2. It provides consultants to testify as "experts" when a city, county or state considers smokefree measures.

A 1993 memorandum from Philip Morris's Mayada Logue first outlined the steps to set up "a program for technical support," stating that most "large HVAC companies (Honeywell, Landis & Gyr) are equipped to perform the steps outlined. The money is to be made in the purchase and installation of the equipment."

Philip Morris aimed to convince HVAC original equipment manufacturers of the profits to be made if they embrace the "ventilation solution," by "showing manufacturers of new equipment that addressing our [Philip Morris's] issues is a business opportunity for them." If the HVAC company lacked expertise in dealing with smoking issues, Philip Morris would train.

As once-secret industry documents also show, Big Tobacco also created a "Scientific Witness Team" (SWT) to make legislative appearances and media tours promoting the tobacco industry's position.