The anti-smoking effort a long slog in Oklahoma

This month, the state tax on cigarettes has increased by $ 1 per pack. It's just the latest effort to discourage tobacco use in Oklahoma. However, if history is an indicator, the goal of eliminating cigarette consumption could still be far from successful.

Already in 1917, Rep. JO McCollister, D-Mangum, is the author of a law prohibiting anyone from smoking a cigarette or offering to sell, give, barter or otherwise dispose of it. .. cigarettes, cigarette paper or a substitute … "

The bill received the approval of the House of Representatives of Oklahoma. January 12, 1917 of The Daily Oklahoman reports: "It is probably the most stringent anti-smoking measure ever proposed in a legislature."

The newspaper reports that the measure was "debated for almost two hours, during which no less than fifteen speeches were delivered in which most of the speakers devoted their remarks to the alleged perverse effects of cigarettes (sic) on minors, some sometimes trying to give a scientific explanation of the Effect of "

The legislation was subsequently changed to prohibit the sale of cigarettes only to minors and not to adults.

Over the years, other efforts have been made to eliminate smoking. When he served at Oklahoma House from 1989 to 2004, the current Oklahoma County Commissioner, Ray Vaughn, remembers filing numerous proposals to narrow the law. tobacco use, including an effort to add nicotine to the list of controlled hazardous substances. Most of the efforts were rejected, although he managed to restrict smoking in public places.

In the 1990s, Oklahoma was among the states involved in a class action against tobacco companies, supposedly to recover the money spent on smoking-related illnesses. . These efforts resulted in a 1998 Framework Regulation Agreement in which tobacco companies accepted certain marketing restrictions and provided millions of annual payments to participating States.

In exchange, the states agreed to "absolutely and unconditionally release" the tobacco companies. States have agreed not to "pursue or seek to establish civil liability against" any participating tobacco company and have agreed that the provisions of the MSA would constitute "a complete defense to any civil action or proceeding"