Tobacco Documents Online

-t-obo o P. O. Box 12046, Ih, N.C. 27605 Phone: 832-3766 October, 1965 Volume VI, Number 1 WILJ..IAM H. W. ANDERSON 8£CRETARY-TREAI3URER PRESIDENT JOHNSON ON JULY 27th SIGNED INTO LAW the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Ad- vertising Act (P. L. 89-92), which requires all cigarette packages sold in the United States after De- cember 31st to carry this label:! "CAUTION: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous To Your Health." The label must be "located in a conspicuous place in conspicuous and legible type." No specific reference is made in the law to the exact size of the tS~l~e for the label or to the specific location of the • label on a cigarette package. These details will be worked out. Penalty for violation: $10,000. THE LAW PRE-EMPTS THE FIELD O'N CIGARETTE LABELS, and prevents the Federal Trade Commission until July 1, 1969 from carrying out that agency's previous order to require warnings also on a/l cigarette advertising. The Federal Labeling Law also specifies that no other label shall be required on packages and no state- ment relating to smoking and health shall be required in advertising. The Congressional Committee reports make clear that these provisions are intended to pre-empt "all Federal, State and local au- thorities from requiring any further statements" on packages or in advertising. SPECIAL REPORTS TO THE U. S. CONGRESS FROM THE Federal Trade Commission and the U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare are required under the provisions of the Federal Cigarette Labeling Act. These reports are to be made within 18 months after the effective date of the Federal Cigarette La- beling Act (Jan. 1, 1966) and annually thereafter. The H E W must report on "current information on the health consequences of smoking." The Federal Trade Commission must report on: 1. "Effectiveness of cigarette labeling." 2. "Current practices and methods of cigarette advertising and promotion." 3. Such legislative recommendations "as the FTC may deem appropriate." IN SPITE OF CRITICISMS BY ANTI-TOBACCO FORCES, each house of the U. S. Congress gave an overwhelming approval to the cigarette labeling bill. Some legislative differences in the bill were re- solved, and the act was sent to the White House for the signature of President Johnson. But before the White House acted, eight Congressmen (all Democrats) wrote a letter to President Johnson urging him to veto it. The National Interagency Council on Smoking and Health identified the Congressmen as: Sen. Joseph S. Clark, Pennsylvania Sen. Paul H. Douglas, Illinois Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, New York Sen. Gaylord Nelson, Wisconsin Rep. John A. Blatnik, Minnesota Rep. Richard Bolling, Missouri Rep. John E. Moss, California Rep. Morris E. Udall, Arizona "The essential feature of the bill,!' according to the Congressmen in their letter to the President, "is "the postponement for four years of the Federal Trade Commission's rule requiring a health-hazard warning in cigarette advertising." AFTER THE PRESIDENT SIGNED THE BILL, the White House Press Secretary issued a statement from the President on the bill. "The bill does make a real contribution," the White House statement said, "to the efforts to bring to the attention of all smokers and ~ potential smokers the scientific and medical data indicating the health hazards in cigarette smoking,.

"To those who believed signing the bill would tie the hands o~ all who are interested in thi~ field, it i~ apparent that no bar exists to the introduction and passage of additional legislation at any appro- priate time. "The President carefully considered the bill, and, based on the advice of his own special counsel, the Budget Bureau, and various departments and agencies involved in this particular area of activity, agreed that the benefits of thebill far outweighed any deficiencies or disadvantages, and accord- ingly signed it." THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION IMMEDIATELY rescinded its proposed rule regarding label- ing and warnings in advertising. Many in Congress and business had questioned whether FTC ac- tually had authority from Congress to issue such rulings. The FTC at the same time re-asserted its authority, which was not in dispute and was specifically not affected by the new law, to regulate "unfair or deceptive practices" in advertising. The FTC warned it would scan cigarette advertising especially for any efforts to circumvent the mes- sage on the health warning label. "Any cigarette advertising," the FTC said, "which contains any representation -- express or implied -- that tends to undermine the warning placed on the package would be unfair and deceptive" and subject to Commission action. FOLLOWING THE FIRST FTC ANNOUNCEMENT IN the Winter of 1964 of its proposed Trade Regulation Rule for the Advertising and Labeling of Cigarettes, the tobacco economy joined to fight such a threat to its livelihood. , Many other related business interests also became concerned because they felt the FTC was overstepping its regulatory authority and that this constituted a threat to all legitimate advertising, i The Committee of the Growers of U. S. Tobacco, representing more than 50 major farmer organiza- tions and persons concerned with the future of tobacco was formed. Mr. Fred S. Royster, of Hen- derson, N. C., long-time warehouse official and a veteran State legislator, unanimously was named Chairman of the Committee of the Growers of U. S. Tobacco. AFTER FILING A STATEMENTiOF THE TOBACCO Growers with the FTC Mr. Royster personally expressed the strong opposition of the Committee of the Growers of U. S. Tobacco in appearances before the Commerce Committees of the House and the Senate. Resistance to the FTC Rule by the tobacco growers, Mr. Royster said, was based on these principles: 1. The FTc lacked the authority to require warning statements in cigarette advertising. 2. The FTC overstepped authority, vested only in the U. S. Congress; the problem should be solved by Congress and not by any Federal agency. 3. The FTC would not pre-empt all areas; the tobacco economy would be subjected to needless and diverse action on labels by States, Counties and Cities. 4. The FTC Rule was unwise, unwarranted and not factual in the present state of medical knowl- edge. 5. The FTC proposal was not needed, because smokers for years have been aware of the issues in the smoking-and-health debate. 6. No vendor of tobacco products should be required to attach a warning or any disparaging adver- tising on his packaged products. TOBACCO GROWERS MAKE A STRONG CONTRIBUTION to their fellow man by producing a prod- uct that provides pleasure and relaxation from the stress and strain of life, in peace or war, it was emphasized by Mr. Royster in statements to the Commerce Committees of the Congress. "In complete disagreement with those who attack tobacco most savagely as an evil thing," Mr. Roys- ter said, "we growers believe that we have made a contribution to society by producing good tobacco. "There is something about the stress and strain and stark reality of war which spotlights certain trUths... Nearly every soldier coming out of battle reached for a cigarette. Nearly every sailor com- ing off watch went for a cigarette and a cup of coffee. When our soldiers were among foreign peo- ple their most acceptable tokens of friendship were candy bars and cigarettes. "In World War I, in World War II, in the Korean War, the USO, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the tobacco companies, thousands of citizens, and the United States of America, sent billions of cig- arettes to our soldiers, to our allies, and to our defeated foes. We believed that we were doing good. We still so believe. "The growers were told that they were contributing to the war effort. We believed that we were so contributing. We still so believe. "... Today is a day of tensions as never before in peacetime. Who has tried to measure the relief from present-day tensions which may be credited to tobacco? Who can predict what would be the explosion of tense people if there were no relaxing agents or avenues? We say that there is good in tobacco," Mr. Royster said.

CONGRESSMAN 0REN HARRIS, CHAIRMAN OF THE House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, complimented Mr. Royster and the statement of the Committee of Growers of U. S. Tobacco. Following Mr. Royster's presentation, Chairman Harris said: "Thank you very much for your direct presentation. Your statement is explicit. It is to the point. It presents your viewpoint, and it covers some beneficial aspects of the use of tobacco that have not been covered before. We appreciate that..." SPEAKING FOR NINE PRINCIPAL U. S. MANUFACTURERS of cigarettes, Mr. Bowman Gray, Chairman of the Board of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company,,told the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce that the cigarette companies wanted a "reasonable opportunity" to regulate their own advertising. Mr. Gray said the manufacturers opposed the FTC Rule because the industry believes it is not war- ranted and is not a factual statement of scientific knowledge. "If any such action is to be faken," Mr. Gray said, "we believe it should be taken by the Congress and by no one else. The problem is national in scope." Mr. Gray noted that "the majority of the men and women in this country are cigarette smokers . . . The Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General recognized that there are 'significant beneficial effects of smoking primarily in the area of mental health,' but the Advisory Committee felt that since it could not measure these benefits, it could not weigh them in the balance." THERE WERE STRONG EXPRESSIONS FROM OTHER GROUPS--not just those primarily identi- fied with the tobacco economy--that objected to the FTC's trying to claim authority to require state- ments in advertising. Testimony on the subject showed that many believed the FTC proposed to act beyond its powers granted by Congress. A representative of the American Newspaper Publishers Association said the FTC is "seeking to in- vade a field wherein it has no legal right." If the FTC gets by with its rule on cigarettes, it is diffi- cult to see, said the ANPA, "where the Commission would stop or what would prevent comparable actions against other American industries." Voicing similar sentiments, a spokesman for the Association of National Advertisers said, "We would be here today if the product line involved were cabbages or sealing wax." Representatives of the radio and television industry also opposed the advertising requirements for similar reasons. Even FTC Chairman Paul Rand Dixon recognized that the legal question of the Commission's au- thority might take "conservatively four years" to decide in courts, before the proposed FTC rule could be enforced. BEFORE CONGRESS, SOME 32 STATEMENTS QUESTIONING the case against cigarettes were made by doctors and scientists. Over 40 physicians, researchers and statisticians appeared before the Commerce Committees of the House and the Senate. They questioned many of the conclusions of the "Smoking and Health Report" of the Advisory Committee to the U. S. Surgeon General. The urgent need for more research was discussed by the scientists. Many emphasized that statistics do not prove the cause and effect of any disease. Questions on the medical validity of statistics were presented by the physicians and scientists; their statements were given widespread attention by the news services and radio-television outlets. Among them were the following: "The cause of cancer--any kind of cancer--remains to be discovered," Dr. Duane Carr, professor of surgery at the University of Tennessee Medical College, told the Congressmen. "I wish that something as simple as smoking were the factor we seek," Dr. Carr said. "The solution would then be easy . . . we could abolish smoking, and there would be no lung cancer. But we al- ready know this is not trtie, because non-smokers also get the disease." Dr. Carr said that he had treated over 30,000 chest disease patients, including some 3,000 lung cancer patients. "It would be as logical to require warning labels on sugar, coffee, ice-cream and candy," said Dr. Jo~ph Wolffe, Medical Director of the Valley Forge Heart Hospital at Norristown, Pa., "as to re- quire warning labels on cigarettes and cigarette advertising." "THE NEW LABEL LAW REPRESENTS A DEAR PURCHASE of time," wrote William G. Reddan, editor of "Forum" in Tobacco- The International Weekly. "The law, as of now," the editor said, "does not apply to advertising messages promoting cigarette use, but this ban is not permanent. Actually, the law specifically limits the present scene of the ban to cigarette packages and cartons un- til July 1, 1969. After that dad, the Congress has served notice that it will consider broader and mere crippling legislation, certainly embracing advertising messages and possibly even Federal inspection at the factory level (under the Food and Drug Administration)," the editor predicted.

"But all the repressive measures are not held off for three years, despite the impression to the con- trary in some industry quarters. The act calls for a series of progress reports, with recommendations for corrective legislation to be made by both the Federal Trade Commission and the United States De- partment of Health, Education and Welfare to the Congress within 18 months and thereafter annual- ly until July 1, 1969. "This means that the next three years will see an intensification -- not a diminution -- of the anti- tobacco propaganda from official government sources. The industry may well have bought time, but it has not bought peace." MEANWHILE, DR. LUTHER L. TERRY, WHO, AS SURGEON GENERAL of the U. S. and head of the U. S. Public Health Service, had led the campaign for labeling and warnings in cigarette adver- tising, resigned, effective September 30th. He will become Vice-President for Medical Affairs at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Terry, who is a native of Red Level, Alabama, admitted to a press conference of Washington women reporters that he was "disappointed" with the signing of the Federal Labeling Act. He said he viewed the new law with "mixed emotions." Although the law does something about label- ing, Dr. Terry said "it does nothing about advertising." =. DISSATISFACTION BY ANTI-TOBACCO FORCES was open, but their determination remained as resolute as before the President signed the Federal Cigarette Labeling Act. Emerson Foote, Chair- man of the National Interagency Council on Smoking and Health and for over 30 years an advertising executive who directed tobacco advertising, wrote to Rep. John E. Moss (D-Calif.) : "We believe that S. 559 can be amended to include a warning in advertising, and otherwise strengthened, much before four years have elapsed. "... Therefore, we expect you to work for the amendment of S. 559--to strengthen its power to reduce cigarette consumption--at the earliest practicable opportunity." Portions of Mr. Foote's letter to Congressman Moss, published in the Congressional Record, served notice the anti-tobacco forces were not willing to give the Labeling Act an 18-month trial even as provided by law. They seek stronger legislation now. FOOTE, IN AN APPEAL TO NATIONAL INTERAGENCY COUNCIL members in 28 States, sought support for the U. S. Public Health Service's efforts for an appropriation of some $1,900,000 to set up a National Clearinghouse on Smoking and Health. A similar effort was voted down last year by the U. S. Congress. According to NIC Chairman Fooie, the clearinghouse w°uld "c°ncentrate on public and professional information, behavorial studies~,o and assistance to State and Community programs" in efforts to re- duce cigarette use. The National Interagency Council recently added its eighteenth member, the National League for Nursing, Inc., which Foote reports has 24,500 members and more than 1,300 member agencies. "IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL I~T THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY remain united in their efforts to repulse those who would harm our livelihood," said Carl T. Hicks, President of the Tobacco Growers' Information Committee, Inc., an~d the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation, Inc. "We must keep our eyes on the activities of those who would banish tobacco and those who preach total abstinence of tobacco products," warned President Hicks. "Let us be alert to their activities in the legislatures of States, as well as any other possible regula- tions that may come before the U. S. Congress," said President Hicks. CAUTIONING THAT TItE "WAR AGAINST CIGARETTES and our tobacco economy is far from over," Fred S. Royster, Chairman of the Committee of Growers of U. S. Tobacco, said, "Our tobacco growers must realize that they are being attacked on one flank by serious and unsupported health charges. On the other flank, we face the threats of penny-on-penny excise tax increases on tobacco products. This is no time for any serious tobacco grower to relax," Mr. Royster said. No other farm co~nmodity in the world was ever taxed as heavily as tobacco is taxcd REPRODUCTION IS PERMITTED