Anti-Smoking Senators Invest in Tobacco Cessation Drug Manufacturers

[Valin]

Heritage.org/Scribe:

Lachlan Markay

December 27, 2012

 

At least a handful of powerful U.S. senators have taken a hard line on anti-tobacco policies while investing in companies that manufacture products designed to help people quit smoking, raising potential conflict of interest questions.

 

According to a joint investigation by Scribe and the Washington Guardian, published Monday in the Washington Times, top Senate Democrats who have pushed policies that fund anti-tobacco measures have money invested in pharmaceutical companies that manufacture tobacco cessation products such as Nicorette.

 

Over the past four years as he repeatedly pressed for federal funding to stop smoking, [iowa Democratic Senator Tom] Harkin has owned between $50,001 and $100,000 in stock in health products maker Johnson & Johnson, which makes the popular anti-smoking product Nicorette. Senate disclosure forms give ranges instead of exact amounts.

 

He’s hardly alone. A half-dozen senators who have been among the most vocal advocates for federal funding for smoking cessation — including Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois — have direct or indirect investments in companies that make anti-tobacco products.

 

The conflicts, spelled out in more detail in the Times, underscore the need for measures to combat the use of public office for personal financial gain.

 

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I can't tell you shocked and disappointed I am at that paragon of virtue Harry Reid!