Mike Males

Wednesday December 8, 1999

Thank you Mike for accepting our rendez-vous.  May I ask you to introduce yourself ?

I HAVE A Ph.D. IN SOCIAL ECOLOGY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE. I HAVE WRITTEN THREE BOOKS ON YOUTHS, "FRAMING YOUTH: 10 MYTHS ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION,"
"THE SCAPEGOAT GENERATION: AMERICA'S WAR ON ADOLESCENTS,"
AND THE LATEST, "SMOKED, why Joe Camel is still smiling", ALL BY COMMON COURAGE PRESS.

I WORKED WITH YOUTHS FOR A DOZEN YEARS IN LOW-INCOME PROGRAMS, JUVENILE JUSTICE PROGRAMS, AND OUTDOOR WORK PROGRAMS LIKE THE YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS.

I WAS A JOURNALIST FOR 10 YEARS IN MONTANA AND WORKED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS.

CAN'T HOLD A STEADY JOB, IN SHORT, WHICH PROBABLY RESULTS (ALONG WITH MY VIRULENTLY ANTI-ADULT ATTITUDES, EVEN AT AGE 49) FROM BEING EXPELLED FROM SECOND GRADE.

1. Your assessment is that : at the dawn of the millennium, the industry is breathing easier.
Can you explain what you mean ?

IN THE EARLY 1990s, THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY WAS IN DEEP TROUBLE IN THE U.S. IN THE PREVIOUS DECADE, TOBACCO SALES FELL 25%, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT WAS DOWN 60%, AND INDUSTRY PROFITS WERE FLAT; THE RESULT OF DECLINES IN ADULT SMOKING OF 30-40% AND IN TEEN SMOKING OF 40-60% IN THE PREVIOUS 20 YEARS.

THE EFFECTS OF ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGNS, PARTICULARLY RAISED TAXES ON CIGARETTES, PUBLIC/WORKPLACE RESTRICTIONS ON SMOKING, AND LAWSUIT FILING, WAS AT A PEAK.

NOW, AT THE CLOSE OF THE DECADE, THE INDUSTRY FINDS SALES AND PROFITS RISING, BOTH TEEN AND ADULT SMOKING HAVE GROWN IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, AND THE MASTER SETTLEMENT REMOVES (AT THE COST OF A ONE-TIME, SHRINKABLE PAYMENT) MUCH OF THE LIABILITY PROBLEM FROM THE INDUSTRY'S BACK.

NOW BIG TOBACCO IS FEATURED IN MAJOR PERIODICALS SUCH AS FORTUNE AS A PROMISING GROWTH INDUSTRY.

I WAS INTERESTED IN HOW THAT CALAMITY HAPPENED IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF BILL CLINTON, WHO EVERYONE THOUGHT WAS "ANTI- SMOKING."
THE REASON APPEARED TO BE THE CAPTURE OF A ONCE ROBUST ANTI-SMOKING MOVEMENT BY POLITICIANS AND POLITICIZED GOALS, WHICH EMPHASIZED EXPLOITING THE SMOKING ISSUE FOR POPULARITY AND INSTITUTIONAL GAIN RATHER THAN TO PREVENT SMOKING AS FORMER SURGEON GENERAL C. EVERETT KOOP HAD ENVISIONED IN HIS CALL FOR A "TOBACCO FREE SOCIETY."

2. There is a debate in various countries about how effective and appropriate sales bans of tobacco products to minors are.
Your position is that teen smoking is unaffected by bans of sales to youth and that it is even counterproductive.
Criminalizing could in fact increase teen smoking. Can you detail your argumentation ?

I WORKED WITH KIDS AND FAMILIES FOR A DOZEN YEARS BEFORE RETURNING TO GET MY Ph.D., AND I SAW FIRSTHAND HOW KIDS START TO SMOKE.

THEY GET CIGARETTES EFFORTLESSLY FROM ADULTS -- PARENTS, RELATIVES, BROTHERS, SISTERS, OLDER FAMILY FRIENDS -- WHO SMOKE, BECAUSE KIDS WHO SMOKE ARE SURROUNDED BY ADULTS WHO SMOKE.

A TWO-YEAR STUDY BY MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL TEAM OF 500 TOBACCO SELLERS AND 22,000 YOUTHS IN THREE CITIES IN MASSACHUSETTS WHICH VIGOROUSLY ENFORCED ANTI-YOUTH-SALES LAWS VERSUS THREE WHICH DID NOTHING TO PREVENT TOBACCO SALES TO YOUTHS FOUND FASCINATING RESULTS: THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE IN THE PROPORTION OF YOUTHS WHO TOOK UP SMOKING IN THE TWO SETS OF CITIES, BUT DAILY SMOKING BY YOUTHS IN THE CRACKDOWN TOWNS ROSE BY 23%, COMPARED TO A 2% DECLINE IN THE LAID-BACK CITIES.
CRIMINALIZING TEEN SMOKING APPEARED TO REINFORCE THE USE OF CIGARETTES AMONG A VERY SMALL FRACTION OF YOUTHS (A 23% INCREASE IN DAILY SMOKING AMOUNTS TO AN ADDITIONAL 2% TO 3% OF THE TOTAL YOUTH POPULATION) WHO IDENTIFIED WITH SMOKERS'
RESISTANCE TO UNREASONABLE AUTHORITY MORE THAN THEY IDENTIFIED WITH THE MAJORITY OF THEIR NONSMOKING PEERS (WHO WOULD NOT SMOKE NO MATTER WHAT LAWS WERE IN PLACE).
THIS FRACTION OF THE YOUTH POPULATION IS NOT LARGE, BUT IT IS EXACTLY THE MARGINAL ONE ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGNS WANT TO REACH -- AND THEY DON'T REACH IT WITH RESTRICTIVE LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS.

3. Your alternative to bans is : voluntary agreements to refuse to sell. How could that work ?
I remember that nice woman tobacco retailer in France who was quite upset that the law did not allow her to refuse to sell cigarettes to kids. Theorically if she refused she could have been sued !

BY "VOLUNTARY," I MEANT THE SYSTEM APPROVED BY MONTANA (U.S.A.) JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH STUDENTS IN REFERENDUMS TO ESTABLISH TOBACCO FREE SCHOOLS, WHICH BANNED TOBACCO USE BY YOUTHS AND ADULTS ALIKE. UNFORTUNATELY, IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS, THE STUDENT REFERENDUM IDEA WAS APPLIED TO VOTING TO ASK STORES TO POST SIGNS AND VOLUNTARILY REFUSE TO SELL TOBACCO TO PERSONS UNDER AGE 18 -- WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN LEGAL UNDER THE MONTANA CONSTITUTION.

IN RETROSPECT, EVEN THOUGH THE REFERENDUM WAS APPROVED BY 50,000 STUDENT VOTERS AND THUS BECAME A YOUTH EXPRESSION RATHER THAN IMPOSED ADULT AUTHORITY, I AM DUBIOUS ABOUT BANNING TOBACCO SALES TO YOUTHS, SINCE THAT SIMPLY TRUMPETS THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY'S FAVORITE THEME: SMOKING IS AN "ADULT" HABIT.

I WOULD ASK THE FRENCH TOBACCO SELLER WHY, IF SHE WAS SO CONCERNED ABOUT YOUTHS SMOKING, SHE SOLD TOBACCO AT ALL?
SUPPOSE SHE COULD LEGALLY REFUSE TO SELL TO YOUTHS -- THEY WOULD JUST GET AN ADULT TO BUY FOR THEM, AND THE NOTION THAT SMOKING IS A SIGN OF BEING "GROWN UP" WOULD BE REINFORCED.

4. You emphasize the importance of parental and adult smoking while you criticize kids focused campaigns. What mix do you suggest for campaigns ?

THE THINGS THAT REDUCE ADULT SMOKING -- HIGHER TAXES, RESTRICTIONS ON SMOKING, DE-NICOTINING CIGARETTES, PRONOUNCING SMOKING SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR ALL AGES --
ARE ALSO THE MOST EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING SMOKING BY YOUTHS.

I THINK CAMPAIGNS SHOULD FORCEFULLY EMPHASIZE THAT ADULTS WHO SMOKE BOTH ENDANGER THE HEALTH OF THEIR KIDS AND MULTIPLY MANY-FOLD THE ODDS THEIR KIDS WILL TAKE UP SMOKING.

THE APPEAL I WOULD MAKE TO YOUTHS, AGAIN EMBODIED IN THE REFERENDUM IDEA, WAS TOWARD IDEALISM -- THE NEW GENERATION CAN DO BETTER THAN THE OLD -- RATHER THAN THE CURRENT ANTI-SMOKING MOVEMENT'S PORTRAYAL OF YOUTHS AS STUPID INDUSTRY DUPES SURROUNDED BY EVIL PEERS WHO ARE VIOLATING OUR CLEAN-LIVING ADULT VALUES.

IN BOTH ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR SURVEYS, YOUTHS ARE THE MOST NON- AND ANTI-SMOKING GROUP, YET THE ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGNS MAKE IT APPEAR EVERY KID IS LIGHTING UP AND SINGING PRAISES OF THE HABIT.

5. You criticize the mastersettlement for : giving the world to the tobacco corporations. What about the own responsibility of the other countries ?
If the European Union countries (for instance) want to control tobacco corporations they have the means to do it.
The situation is different in less developed/more exploited countries but it always boils down to the political muscle the anti-tobacco advocates are able to build locally.
Aren't the problems encountered by the settlement in the US with so little money going to tobacco control the sign of the political weakness of advocates in many states ?

ABSOLUTELY.

WESTERN NATIONS HAVE THE POWER TO CONTROL TOBACCO AS MUCH AS POPULAR WILL ALLOWS, WHICH MAKES THE U.S. SQUANDERING OF GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES IN THE 1990s TRAGIC.

THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES DO NOT, FOR THE MOST PART, HAVE THAT POWER, AND THAT IS WHY THEIR LARGE POPULATIONS ARE SEEN AS THE SOURCE OF FUTURE INDUSTRY GROWTH -- AND THAT IS WHY SUCH INFORMED INDUSTRY OBSERVERS AS STANTON GLANTZ AND CORPORATE WATCH SAID, "THE WORLD IS THEIR ASHTRAY," AFTER THE SETTLEMENT.

AND YES, THE FACT THAT LITTLE SETTLEMENT MONEY IS GOING TO TRUE TOBACCO CONTROL (WHAT IS SPENT WILL BE ON KIDDIE CAMPAIGNS OF THE SORT NEVER SHOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE) IS A SIGN NOT SO MUCH OF THE WEAKNESS OF THE U.S. ANTI-SMOKING MOVEMENT, BUT ITS CORRUPTION BY POLITICAL AGENDAS. THE ANTI-SMOKING MOVEMENT IS STRONG TODAY; IT JUST DOESN'T WANT TO STAMP OUT SMOKING NEARLY AS MUCH AS IT ONCE DID.

Do you have anything else you would like to add?

THE 1990s TOBACCO DEBACLE (AS WELL AS OUR OTHER CRISES, SUCH AS VIOLENCE) IN THE U.S. RESULTS FROM OUR LONG-STANDING TENDENCY TO BLAME SOCIAL PROBLEMS ON UNPOPULAR DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS (MINORITIES IN THE PAST, NOW TEENAGERS) RATHER THAN THE TRUE CULPRITS:
ESTABLISHED, GROWN-UP SOCIETY.

THE 20-30% OR SO OF YOUTHS WHO TAKE UP SMOKING DO SO NOT BECAUSE OF ADVERTISING, PEERS, REBELLIOUSNESS, OR "TEENAGE RISK TAKING," BUT BECAUSE ADULTS AROUND THEM SMOKE.

IT IS CONFORMING BEHAVIOR, REINFORCED BY THE IMAGE OF SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY (ADS AND MARKETING DO CONTRIBUTE TO THAT IMAGE, BUT THEY DON'T CREATE IT).
UNTIL WE FACE THE FACT THAT THE PROBLEM IS US, THE INDUSTRY WILL CONTINUE TO PROFIT FROM OPPORTUNISTIC STRATEGIES AIMED AT PRESERVING DOMESTIC LEGITIMACY WHILE MOVING VIGOROUSLY INTO THIRD WORLD MARKETS.

Thank you Mike for taking the time to be with us today.

THANK YOU, AND BEST OF LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECTS. BEST REGARDS,
Mike A. Males P.O. Box 7842 Santa Cruz, CA 95061-7842 Tel 831/426-7099 fax same (please call first) Email mmales@earthlink.net