CrackPot letter to Philip Morris

This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

George Weissman, CEO of Philip Morris, kept a file marked "Crack Pot Letters." In this file the following remarkable poem was found, mailed to Mr. Weissman from a man in Grosse Point Park, Michigan in 1986.

February 11, 1986

George Weissman
Philip Morris Inc.
120 Park Ave. New York, NY 10017
Dear Mr. Weissman,

The soothing taste of your despicable ware
Rolled and sold by those who don't care
Centuries ago a ritual of peace
You've turned into a murdering thief

Subsidies keep the growers content
But who also pays the widow's rent
Bringing in tax your congressmen claim
Supply and demand; no one's to blame

Your advertisers prey on dreams they invent
To ride the wide range is the road to content
Millions of dollars and millions of lives
Pave the road you've built over those who have died

To foster this addiction, this cancerous stick
Takes a soul black as the lungs of the tricked
Smokers make up your legion of slaves
Pipe dreams in fumes, you kill while they crave

Now that there's hope -- many more know much better
Do you repress any life saving measure
You fought and protested then gave a small label
It's weak and unnoticed is why you felt able

The fruits of your efforts serve no useful purpose
Worse than worthless is the bounty you serve us
By combustion and fire is how your work's done
Satanic influences blackening innocent lungs

We'll cut consumption and gain the farmland we need
For the world's nutrition, not poison for greed
A fertile idea: We'll blow you asunder
With a spit and a curse when we plow you under

Sincerely,

Gary J. Freeman
1352 Bedford

Grosse Pte. Pk., MI 48230

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