American Smokers Alliance

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

The American Smokers Alliance began in mid 1988 with David Brenton running the operation from Nashville Tennessee. [2]

    Philip Morris was instrumental in the creation of the American Smokers Alliance, and RJ Reynolds is carrying out a campaign to organise cells of smokers' rights activists around the country. (See "Choice & Action Line") [3]

It sometimes appears that the ASA is the same organisation as the National Smokers Alliance since it has essentially the same Advisory Board. But more likely, the American Smokers Alliance continued as an organisation with signed up members past 1993 (while merging with other groups), while the National Smokers Alliance was developed by the four main cigarette companies as an umbrella group for the dozens of Smokers Rights organisation (many State based or local) which were created by state and regional cigarette distributors.

Smokers Rights Groups
American Smokers Alliance (ASA)
National Smokers Alliance (NSA)
Smokers Rights Alliance (SRA)
United Smokers Association (USA)
Both run by David Brenton
International Smokers Rights
People United for Friendly Smoking
Smokers Rights publications
PM's Smokers Advocate
Editor Christopher Donahue
RJ Reynolds Choice & Action Line (phone)

In about 1990 March The Great American Smokers Manual is activists' guide was supposedly published by the American Smokers Alliance. It has sample letters to the editor, and some basic instructions on how and what to write + some dubious statistics to include in the letter. However by comparing documents, it appears as if the National Smokers Alliance became a front for the American Smokers Alliance in about 1992. They seem to have continued to use both names on occasions. Obviously these smoker's right organisations didn't really attract many members who wanted to go along to weekly meetings to complain about their nicotine addiction.

This bundle includes a copy of the 1982 Legislative Policy, distributed by the National Center for Legislative Research. The NCLR was run by life-long tobacco lobbyist Paul Dietrich who went on to run the Saturday Review magazine for Philip Morris, and also the Institute for International Health and Development (IIHD) which handled the publication and distribution of the fake seminar, McGill University ETS Symposium in November 1989.

They also provide the addresses of the major newspaper in each state. [4]