New Website Exposes State Governments' Covert Partnership with Big Tobacco

StatesOnTheTake.com, a grassroots advocacy site, has obtained and made available the entire "Privileged and Confidential," Memo #03-111 of September 12th, 2003 drafted by the National Association of Attorneys General ("NAAG"), for release only to the attorneys general of the 46 states which signed the Master Settlement Agreement ("MSA") and not released anywhere. The MSA was negotiated between the states attorneys generals and Big Tobacco in 1998 to end litigation against Big Tobacco.

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) July 15, 2004 -- StatesOnTheTake.com, a grassroots advocacy site, has obtained and made available the entire "Privileged and Confidential," Memo #03-111 of September 12th, 2003 drafted by the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG"), for release only to the attorneys general of the 46 states which signed the Master Settlement Agreement ("MSA"). The MSA was negotiated between the states attorneys generals and Big Tobacco in 1998 to end litigation against Big Tobacco.

This "Privileged and Confidential" memo from NAAG, the regulatory association which oversees enforcement of the MSA, is currently unavailable in its entirety anywhere else on the Internet or in any other form of the public domain.

This memo reveals the state governments' active intervention in the free market on behalf of its MSA business partner, Big Tobacco.

According to S. George Alfonso, in house counsel for StatesOnTheTake.com, "This memo reveals the state governments' active intervention in the free market on behalf of its MSA business partner, Big Tobacco." According to Mr. Alfonso, "These collusive efforts by elected officials on behalf of Big Tobacco are designed to create a de-facto Big Tobacco monopoly which will allow Big Tobacco to dictate product distribution and entirely control pricing."

Such a de-facto monopoly says Alfonso "would effectively wipe out the consumer's freedom to choose any product other than what Big Tobacco dictates, while insuring a stable (and never-decreasing) annual MSA pay-off to each state partner."

Mr. Alfonso further explains that "With the establishment of a de-facto Big Tobacco monopoly, the annual state pay-offs would only increase as a result of future price hikes by Big Tobacco, unlike this past year's substantially reduced state pay-offs. And this is all done without the hindrance of any legitimate competition, thanks to the states imposed disadvantages through legislation and the MSA, upon any and all independent small business would-be free market competition to non-Big Tobacco."

StatesOnTheTake.com, is an advocacy web site which is actively exposing this state-based issue with powerful national ramifications.

For more information, go to: http://www.StatesOnTheTake.com

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big tobacco state government msa smokers' rights cigarette taxes cigarette legislation tobacco settlement naag npm n.a.a.g

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