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SW: →Philip Morris Corporate Affairs Department: add internal link
==Philip Morris Corporate Affairs Department==
[[Philip Morris Corporate Affairs|Philip Morris '''Corporate Affairs Department''' ]] is the single department most responsible for implementing a vast number of strategies, tactics and programs over the decades to undermine public health efforts to reduce smoking. Under PM's Vice President of Corporate Affairs [[Ellen Merlo]], the department was responsible for the formation of the smokers rights front group the [[National Smokers Alliance]], a fake "grassroots" group set up to protest public smoking laws, cigarette tax increases and other public health measures. Corporate Affairs was also responsible for implementing PM's [[Accommodation Program]].
A December 1993 PM Corporate Affairs Department presentation describes PM strategies to defeat smoking bans and excise taxes across the U.S. Strategies include encouraging tighter restrictions on the operation of nonprofit health organizations (for example, restricting how much of these groups' income could go to administrative and lobbying costs, and creating minimum percentages of funding that they would be mandated to put towards research). Other goals were the strategic use of PM's "Accommodation Program" as a "tactical weapon" to support preemptive state legislation. A quote from page 80 of the presentation PM recounts the company's reasons for opposing bans:
