National Center for Public Policy Research

The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) based in Washington D.C. is an American conservative think tank which believes that the principles of free trade, individual liberty and personal responsibility are the solutions to today’s “public policy problems”.¹

Relationship with the Tobacco Industry

Image 1: Except from 28 September 1999 Philip Morris News Summary About Supportive Opinion Editorial by Amy Ridenour, NCPPR President²

Internal Philip Morris documents described the NCPPR as one of the tobacco company’s “national allies”,³ whose focus is on “alerting the public to the dangers of big government in environmental, health care and other issues”.⁴

Part-Funded by Tobacco Companies

In 2016, Altria declared that it had given a ‘charitable contribution’ to the NCPPR.⁵ The size of the contribution was not disclosed.
In August 2011, NCPPR’s senior fellow Jeff Stier disclosed to the The Guardian that NCPPR received “less than 1% of its revenue” from corporate sources, including tobacco companies.⁶
In 1997 it received US$25,000 from Philip Morris to support the think tank’s online strategy for promoting a de-regulation agenda.⁷

Mobilised by Philip Morris to Attack Government Action Against Tobacco Company

Internal tobacco industry documents show that Philip Morris mobilised NCPPR support (which the tobacco company referred to as ‘activated’) to oppose a 1999 Federal lawsuit against Philip Morris, with the think tank supporting the tobacco company through policy papers, its website, and talk shows (see image 1).²⁸⁹¹⁰

TobaccoTactics Resources

• The NCPPR is a partner of the Atlas Network
• Altria
• Philip Morris USA
• Philip Morris International
• Jeff Stier

Relevant Link

• National Center for Public Policy Research website
• The NCCPR has been accused of violating its tax-exempt status. For more information read this New York Times article by Sam Roberts, dated 4 April 2017