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National Smokers Alliance Calls for Kessler Resignation

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Former U.S. Food & Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler has yet another ethical problem on his hands. The anti-tobacco crusader, now Dean of Yale University School of Medicine, refuses to take a position on Yale's decision keep its investments in tobacco stocks.

``This week, the Yale Corporation decided it would retain its $17 million investment in tobacco stocks. Where is Kessler, the great moralist?'' asked Thomas Humber, president of the National Smokers Alliance.

``At the end of the day, with hypocrites like Kessler, personal morality and ethics seem quite flexible,'' Humber said, pointing to a headline last month in the Yale Daily News that said, ``Kessler blasts tobacco but dodges Yale stocks.''

The on-line newspaper reported on March 4 that in a talk before students, professors and local residents at the Yale Law School, ``Kessler would not say whether the Yale Corporation should divest from the University's $16.9 million in tobacco stock.''

``The Yale Corporation exercised its responsibility in its decision,'' Humber said. ``Kessler, as usual, did what was expedient. He has refused to testify under oath before a Congressional committee, and he has now refused to take a position on Yale's investments. Perhaps the expense account 'irregularities' that clouded his departure from his taxpayer-funded government job gave him a new perspective on money.

``Kessler's employer owns tobacco stocks, and I believe there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. My organization gratefully accepts contributions from tobacco companies, and I surely believe there is nothing wrong with that. But tobacco money is an issue that Kessler and his allies raise day in and day out to demonize anyone who disagrees with their Prohibitionist zealotry.

``If Kessler believes what he has said about tobacco, he should resign from Yale on principle. He can't have it both ways,'' Humber said.

Humber concluded by saying, ``I would hope those who are obsessed with anyone who has ever taken a dime from the industry would join me in the call for Kessler's resignation.''

The National Smokers Alliance is a grassroots organization of three million members nationwide, dedicated to fighting discrimination against smokers. The NSA gratefully accepts not only contributions from its members, but also from tobacco manufacturers on behalf of their customers and from dozens of other corporations and businesses that wish to serve their smoking customers without unwarranted government regulation.

SOURCE: National Smokers Alliance