In most cases, objections have little to do with the dangers of smoking. But the alliances signal a new, and potentially deadly, phase for this year's biggest legislative initiative.
Retailers pop up one day, alcohol the next.
This is a real grass-roots tussle that will not be lost on members of Congress in an election year. The National Restaurant Association, part of the network forming against the tobacco legislation, represents 170,000 eateries. But the more diverse the opposition becomes, and particularly the more unconventional the alliances, it usually spells trouble. RJR Nabisco chief executive Steven Goldstone declared that he and other major cigarette company leaders were abandoning talks with Congress because the price tag on the proposed legislation would bankrupt the industry. They vowed to use their vast resources to battle on Capitol Hill and in courtrooms across America.