Oklahoma Tobacco PolicyMaking.

According to the May 2002 Oklahoma State Plan for Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation, tobacco use is the largest cause of annual deaths in Oklahoma. Tobacco use annually costs Oklahoma more than $2 billion and attracts 14,000 new tobacco users under age 18—one third of whom will die prematurely. The leading causes of death from tobacco use in Oklahoma are from lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease. In order to reverse this severe public health problem, the Oklahoma State Plan recommends a variety of policy proposals. These include restrictions on vending machine tobacco sales, self-service tobacco displays, free tobacco sampling, face-to-face tobacco sales, and Internet tobacco sales. The Oklahoma State Plan also recommends stiffer penalties for tobacco sales to minors, repealing state laws that preempt stricter local tobacco control laws, adopting clean indoor air laws in workplaces, and increasing state tobacco excise taxes. The Oklahoma State Plan also recommends the adoption of vigorous anti-tobacco counter marketing media efforts, cessation programs, and community education efforts as a means to counter tobacco use. So far, most of these public health proposals have not been adopted into laws and regulations. This paper will examine in detail the lobbying and political influence, tactics, and actions of the tobacco industry and its historic allies in Oklahoma in conflict with health advocates in terms of how tobacco control policy has developed from 1985 to the present. Particular focus in this paper will be an examination of the policy reasons why Oklahoma has not, so far, adopted the recent state public health recommendations for more vigorous tobacco control. Also included in this analysis will be a specific examination of how preemption of local tobacco control ordinances, like clean indoor air ordinances, effects tobacco control policy making and public health in Oklahoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]