North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County columnists

The nonprofit organization has reserved its own rodeo booth as part of a campaign aimed at getting the event's organizers to drop the tobacco company as a sponsor.

Dubbed "Buck Smokeless Tobacco," the campaign includes radio ads, visits by a former bull rider to local schools, and letters to various organizations in the community. The effort was made possible by a two-year grant the Lung Association received from a state fund set up with the proceeds of fines paid by tobacco companies caught violating laws that restrict how the firms market their products.

The Poway Rodeo is not the only local rodeo sponsored by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco. While the Lung Association is likely to expand its campaign to include those other events in the future, it is focusing on the Poway Rodeo for now because of it typically draws large numbers of families and teenagers, campaign coordinator Bella Friedman said Friday.

"Thousands of people go to the rodeo, where they see messages about a product that's addictive and cause oral cancer and death," Friedman said. "U.S. Smokeless Tobacco's sponsorship of the rodeo really sends a social message that smokeless tobacco is OK, but we know that the consequences of smokeless tobacco can be deadly."

The rodeo is put on by the Poway Rodeo Volunteers' Committee and the Poway Valley Riders Association. The partnership, known as Pro-Rodeo Productions of Poway, is willing to consider the Lung Association's plea that the tobacco company be rejected as a sponsor, with a couple caveats, said rodeo Chairman Russ Sheldon.

A three-year contract between Pro-Rodeo Productions and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco means no action can be taken before the end of the year, he said.

The rodeo also needs a replacement sponsor to fill the financial gap that would open up if the tobacco company was axed, Sheldon added.

"We told (Lung Association officials) at the end of the year we will sit down and fully evaluate what's going on," he said.

Based in Connecticut, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. manufactures Copenhagen, Skoal, Rooster and Red Seal smokeless tobacco. The products are commonly referred to as moist snuff, chewing tobacco or spit tobacco.

Attempts to reach a spokesperson for the company Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Sheldon declined to disclose the exact value of U.S. Smokeless' Poway Rodeo sponsorship. The company's contributions to the rodeo ---- including an electronic scoreboard and people to run it ---- make the firm a medium-level sponsor, rather than a low-level or major one, he said.

State law prohibits tobacco companies from advertising in rodeo programs and similar materials. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco is free, however, to promotes its products in a tented booth, as long as minors are not allowed in.

Rodeo organizers hired a private security guard to check the identification of people going into the tent, to ensure no one under 18 gets by, Sheldon said.

Debbie Kelley, vice-president of governmental relations for the Lung Association in San Diego and Imperial Counties, said that as a nonprofit organization, the association realizes rodeo organizers face a financial struggle in putting on the rodeo.

"Having said that, we are not in a position to replace that money (provided by the tobacco company's sponsorship)," Kelley said. "But we are in a position to help them with getting a replacement for that ---- we have a list of other companies that have sponsored other rodeos and other events around the state. And we're willing to send letters to some of them on the Poway Rodeo's behalf."

Sheldon said he understands the organization's position as well.

"They're doing the job that they think they need to do to enforce their position, and they have every right to do so," he said. "We do have a good dialogue opened up."

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.