By George Anderson
US Smokeless Tobacco, manufacturer of Copenhagen and Skoal, has been accused of irresponsible behavior for sending free samples of its products to Marines stationed in Iraq.
Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Bill Janklow, R-S.D. sent a letter to the company suggesting its actions amounted to an attempt "to revive the disastrous policy of distributing free tobacco products to men and women in the armed services." The policy of providing tobacco products as part of ration kits ended in 1975.
According to The Associated Press, lawmakers and the armed services became aware of US Smokeless Tobacco's action from an ad in USA Today showing Marines holding cans of moist smokeless tobacco and displaying letters of gratitude to the tobacco company.
Maj. Mike Neumann, a spokesman for the Marine Corps, said US Smokeless Tobacco was sent a letter outlining the free tobacco-ban policy and asking the company not to run the ad again.
A spokesman for US Tobacco, Mike Bazinet, sent the company product after receiving requests from Marines stationed in Iraq.
Moderator's Comment: What is your reaction to this story?
Firstly, while we do not use tobacco products for health reasons we strongly support the right of adults to make the personal choice to use tobacco and retailers to sell it.
We do have to admit disappointment with UST's response that its 1998 agreement with 45 states to not give away free product didn't apply in this case because the samples were sent overseas. The company's response, in our view, took hair splitting to the cellular level.
Technically, the company is right. Free samples weren't sent to any of the states involved in the tobacco settlement. Can we safely assume, however, that at least some of the Marines receiving free Copenhagen or Skoal were legal residents of those states? [George Anderson - Moderator]