Tobacco.org

If you believe these Tobacco Industry Heroes Belong in a HALL OF SHAME instead, Call:

* Nominated by the American Heart Association and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, who paid for this ad.

PAID POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT

LET'S LIFT THE SMOKE SCREEN... OUR RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

California has some of the toughest antismoking laws and programs in the Country thanks to the California Medical Association and Steve Thompson, (Vice President of the CMA for Governmental Relations).

CMA sponsored the legislation banning the distribution of free cigarette samples in California, which Governor Wilson signed into law.

It's true that CMA supports using Proposition 99 funds to provide health care services to poor women and children. . . JUST AS THE VOTERS WANTED. We are equally committed to anti-tobacco research, education and California's nationally recognized antismoking advertising campaign.

We invite organizations dedicated to the health of all Californians to join us in our ongoing fight against tobacco, and raise the cigarette tax to preserve all proposition 99 programs,

(no addressee on document)

January 31, 1996

Your paid political advertisement, placed in the Sacramento Bee on Tuesday, January 30th, is false, inaccurate and damaging to Steven Thompson, Vice President of the California Medical Association. Specifically, CMA's policy on allocation of Proposition 99 funds was established in 1989190, more than two years before Mr. Thompson joined CMA

To state that Mr. Thompson, by carrying out official CMA policy, "personally made the CMA a pawn of the tobacco industry" is a deliberate misstatement of a fact . . .which your organization is well aware of.

Your political advertisement is personally and professionally damaging to Mr. Thompson. He would like a retraction of the damaging and inaccurate statements in an ad of equal size placed in the Sacramento Bee as soon as possible. He is requesting approval of the language of such an ad. If the political advertisement was placed in any other paper or public medium, a similar retraction is requested. We would appreciate a response to this request no later than February 6, 1996

Very Truly Yours,

By _____________
(Signed by) Nancy C. Miller