From Industry Dominance to Legislative Progress: The Political and Public Health Struggle of Tobacco Control in Oklahoma

Abstract

The tobacco industry is a major political force in Oklahoma through lobbying, direct campaign contributions, indirect contributions to the two major political parties and legislative political caucuses, and gifts and entertainment events. The tobacco industry has a centralized political organization in Oklahoma that promotes and defends its political and market interests at the local and state levels of government. Although the tobacco industry has operated in the open in some political campaigns, it has often operated quietly behind the scenes, frequently working with various allied organizations on state and local political campaigns.

The Tobacco Free Oklahoma Coalition in 1999 devised a state tobacco policy plan, and the Oklahoma Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Advisory Committee in 2002 published a state plan for tobacco control. Both reports recommended a variety of policy proposals, including stiffer sanctions on youth access violations, repealing state preemption laws, adopting clean indoor air laws for public places and workplaces, and conducting vigorous anti-tobacco counter-marketing campaigns. Despite the ambitious recommendations of these plans, actual legislative gains in substantive tobacco control were almost non-existent prior to 2002 but have since shown remarkable strides in a few policy areas such as clean indoor air and increased tobacco taxes.

The health impact of smoking in Oklahoma is staggering; 5,700 adults in Oklahoma die from tobacco-related illness annually, while 9,100 new minors become regular smokers each year. The costs of health care for tobacco related illness are about $908 million per year, with $170 million of this amount in Medicaid costs alone.