Tobacco Firms Catch County’s Attention, but Not Its Trust

From the public health officer to the double heart attack victim hopelessly addicted to nicotine, Ventura County residents have plenty to say about Friday’s multibillion-dollar settlement between the tobacco industry and state attorneys general.

The pact could mean huge sums for tobacco prevention efforts, the smoking-related death--gasp--of Joe Camel and the Marlboro man, and the end of endless courtroom battles.

Maybe, county Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Feldman said, federal regulations on nicotine levels will make cigarettes less addictive. And maybe all the dire warnings on cigarette packs will finally register and change tobacco’s image in the minds of smokers.

“It’s the first time we’ve had the tobacco industry agree to be regulated, and we have an aggressive [Food and Drug Administration] that’s willing to regulate,” Feldman said. “That’s a positive step from my point of view.”

The deal still must be approved by Congress and President Clinton. And how the money will trickle down to local governments to fight tobacco use, or to counties for the smoking-related medical costs of the poor, will remain unclear until a delicate allocation formula is reached, officials said.

Meanwhile, local smokers and nonsmokers alike have no trouble venting.

Some applaud the agreement. Some don’t trust it. And others don’t think it will do much at all.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Evelina Bruce as she walked home from work through downtown Ventura, cigarette in hand. “If you’re going to smoke, you’re going to smoke. We all know it’s bad for us.”

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It does matter, said Esther Schiller, executive secretary of the Newbury Park-based Smokefree Air for Everyone, an organization of nonsmokers who say they have been injured or disabled by secondhand smoke.

Trouble is, the tobacco industry can’t be trusted, she said.

Just look at how tobacco marketers skirted bans on television advertising by sponsoring sports and arts events, she said. They bought giant billboards where the home runs are hit, and named tennis tournaments after a cigarette brand.

Those who hold sporting events have become just as reliant on tobacco money as smokers have become dependent on nicotine, she said.

“In the past, all attempts at regulating the tobacco industry have backfired,” she said. “We ended up with a tobacco industry very clearly advertising and still getting on TV.

“I think they’re the most creative marketers in the world,” she said. “They’ll find a way to spin the straw into gold.”

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The worst part, she said, is that the settlement does far too little to stop secondhand smoke. Though state and local governments could enact stronger laws, the settlement terms do not ban smoking in bars and other entertainment venues.

“That’s terrible,” she said. “They’re exempting bars, and bars are where we see the comedians and the entertainers and the musicians. If you’re going to have a consistent policy, it ought to be consistent. There ought not be any secondhand smoke in any enclosed place.”

Still, Thousand Oaks resident Robert Martin, who has smoked two to four packs a day for 18 years, said the tobacco industry’s settlement is justice served.

“I feel the cigarette companies should be liable,” he said.

At 46, Martin has had two heart attacks but can’t seem to break the habit. He’s paid $5.25 per pack on business trips to Europe, and said he would pay $10 if he had to.

“I’m so addicted to those damn things,” he said. “It’s sad.”

Meanwhile, many people agreed with the settlement’s attempt to regulate advertising and impose sanctions on the industry if stiff teen smoking reduction goals are not met.

“They shouldn’t be pushing it on kids to smoke because there’s going to be enough of them that do it on their own,” said Al Hynson of Ventura, a 20-year smoker who had just bought five packs of roll-your-own tobacco from a Ventura discount cigarette store.

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But store employee Rodney Mencia of Port Hueneme doubts the blunt warning labels proposed for cigarette packs--such as “Tobacco can kill you” and “Cigarettes are addictive”--will do much to deter smoking.

“I think maybe seeing the effects from a personal standpoint, through family or sick people you know, makes a hell of a lot more difference than any warning on any pack of cigarettes,” he said.

Katie Williams of Ventura started smoking at age 13. Twenty-something years later, she supports stronger curbs on teens’ ability to get hold of a pack of cigarettes. She said kids outside convenience stores often ask her to buy cigarettes for them, and she refuses.

“I wouldn’t be a smoker if it wasn’t so easy to get then,” she said of her teenage years. “They’re still too easy to get.”

Times correspondent David Greenberg contributed to this report.

* MAIN STORY: A1