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153 22 The Deal Is Struck—and Stricken It was late in the day, June 20, 1997, when the negotiators reached final agreement and convened a press conference. The tobacco industry negotiators stayed away from the public announcement, fearing they would sour the public reception with their tainted presence. Mike Moore, Chris Gregoire, and the other negotiating attorneys general made the announcement. They did not lack enthusiasm. Mike Moore led off: “We are here today to announce what we think is—we know, we believe is—the most historic public health agreement in history. We wanted this industry to have to change the way it did business, and we have done that.” The attorney general of Florida, Bob Butterworth, boasted: “The Marlboro Man is riding off into the sunset on Joe Camel.” Where was Matt? He recalls the intense debate in the Center’s offices in the hours leading up to the signing and the announcement: The attorneys general and the industry wanted me to sign on, even though I wasn’t a participant in the lawsuits. Indeed, they all wanted me to appear on the podium with them. I had very mixed feelings. I felt defensive about the settlement, with all that had been achieved in it and all the work I’d put into it. But my respect for Chris, Mike, and the negotiating team was enormous . There was a real bond—and that was emotional. I disagreed with Mike Moore. I disagreed with where he drew lines, but never with his intent, his well meaning, his motivation—and the phenomenon of what he pulled off. That was emotional. But people at the Center, most thoughtfully Anne Ford, felt incredibly strongly that it would be an enormous mistake. Anne and I debated it pretty intensely, as we did many issues. And she was right; even then I saw she was right. I thought it begrudgingly, but in retrospect she was brilliantly right—although I took a lot of flack for it within the group of negotiators . 154 Smoke in Their Eyes Bill Novelli and Matt had decided that they would not appear with the attorneys general, but separately—immediately after the announcement —supportive but visibly independent, short of an endorsement of all the settlement’s terms. Novelli spoke first: The agreement goes well beyond the provisions of the FDA rule in terms of reducing youth access to tobacco products and curbing tobacco marketing . It also provides for getting secondhand smoke out of the workplace and other public places, improving health warnings on cigarette packs, funding a sustained public education and counter-advertising campaign, funding state and local tobacco control activity, setting up programs to help the fifty million adult smokers to quit, and monitoring the tobacco industry’s corporate behavior. . . . Our partners in the public health community , and indeed the American public, will now begin their very important review. We will assist them in every way possible. Then, Matt added: “This agreement isn’t perfect. You only make perfect agreements when you don’t have to face real reality. However, while there are things in this agreement that I would prefer to see changed, and there are things in this agreement that anyone can find to criticize, if you look at the overall, comprehensive scope of this agreement , it represents the single most fundamental change in the history of tobacco control in any nation in the world.” The terms of the agreement were described and distributed—but not reduced to the precise language of either the formal agreement or legislation —in a sixty-eight-page summary, which had been fine-tuned over the preceding days by several attorneys general, their staffs, and Matt; gone over with the subtle pens of the industry lawyers; and reviewed by the other negotiators. The actual legislative language, the precise terms embodying the agreement that Congress would need to enact, remained to be drafted. Given the three-month stream of leaks, there were few surprises in the broad terms of the settlement. Measured against the history of tobacco control policy in this country, the public health provisions were truly extraordinary. Measured by Wall Street, Stan Glantz’s trusted barometer, the settlement was no victory for the tobacco companies. Reuters headlined the story “Tobacco Stocks Fall as Deal Tougher Than Expected.” But measured by the enlarged expectations and demands of the members of the Koop-Kessler Committee, the flaws in the settlement provisions were an affront. [18.217.8.82] Project MUSE (2024-04...

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