Bliley RJReynolds
Report Concerning Smoking and Health Issues, Prepared by RJR Managerial Employee, Requesting Legal Advice From RJR in-House Legal Counsel.
Fields
- Author
- Fackelman, E.
- Recipient
- Witt, Samuel B., III (CTR and RJR Director & Gen. Counsel)Held various executive positions for RJR and Council for Tobacco Research
Document Images
........ ~ STUDY

GOOD MORNING GENTLEMEN=
THE FIRST TOPIC OF TODAY'S MEETING IS THE 1982 SMOKING ...... -:.~:~:~:
ATTITUDES ~STUDY.. ~. ; So ~D....~...~!~.~.BELIEVE.. PROX~I.pE~.~~
CRITICAL INSIGHTS INTO THE PROBLEMS FACING THE TOBACCO
INDUSTRY AND R JR. MUCH OF THE CREDIT FOR THE STUDY YOU
WILL BE SEEING HAS TO_,BE~iSHARED..WITH MEMBERS OF-PUBLIC
AFFAIRS, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, THE LAW DEPARTMENT,
~AND THE MARKET INS~ DE~PARTMEN'~I~I.I/' THEY PROVIi~~~Y~'~~JT
AND COUNSEL FOR THE STUDY.
(SLIDE~-#I)
OUR INITIAk OBJECTIVE,IN~CONDBCTING.T IS STUDY. WAS
ACHIEVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDI'~G OF"PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD
SMOKING, THE KEY COMPONENT~?~HAT MAKE UP THOSE ATTITUDES.
MORE SPECIFICALLY, WE WANIED TO UNDERSTAND IHE KEY
COMPONENTS THAT DIFFERENTIATE SMOKERS FROM NON-SMOKERS,
THEIR ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS HELD WITH REGARD TO SMOKING
AND HEALTH, THE DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY AND THE
CURRENT IMAGE OF"iHE S~OKING CUSTOM AND THE INDUSTRY. IN

TODAY'S PRESENTATION, WE HAVE DRAWN UPON MANY SOURCES. WE
HAVE USED YANKELOVICH, ROPER, AND INTERNAL MDD INFORMATION
TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THE ~LIMATE. SURR~OUNDING SMOKING.
HOWEVER,. MOST RESUL.T~,~,.y.OU~WILL~BE~~SE~I~NG~IOD./L,~RESULT~.,- ~.~:,~.?..~.~.,~,,~w~:~
DIRECTLY FROM THE MDD SMOKING ATTITUDE STUDY.
(SLIDE #2)
"~
. :THIS ~STUDY~WAS~ COMPLE'TEI~i;R~XWO~PHAsE~;~I~ ~I'AYI VE::~~'~~~;~'~
PORTION CONSISTING OF FOCUS GROUPS AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS
WAS USED TO FORMULATE INITIAL HYPOTHESES ABOUT THE TOPIC
AREAS WE WANTED TO INVESTIGATE. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A
QUANTITATIVE STUDY CONSISTING~OF 500 SMOKERS, 500 FORMER
SMOKERS, AND 500 ADULTS WHO HAVEINEVER SMOKED. I SHOULD
POINT OUT THAT GOING INTO THE QUANTITATIVE PORTION OF THIS
STUDY, WE EXPECTED.TO SEE BROAD ATTITUDINAL DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN FORMER SMOKERS AND THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER SMOKED.
WE WERE SURPRISED TO FIND THAT THE TWO GROUPS WERE NOT
ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER. AS A GROUP,
FORMER SMOKERS APPEAR TO BE QUITE SIMILAR IN THEIR
ATTITUDES TO THosE WHO HAVE NEVER SMOKED.

(SLIDE #3)
I WILL BE COV, ERING FOUR T~PIC AREAS IN TODAY'S
PRESENTATION I WILL..BEGIN WITH THE..DI~SCU.SS!.QN. OF
DIFFERENTIATES A SMOKER' FROM A NON-SMOKER. SECONDLY, I " ~~
WILL DISCUSS ATTITUDES REGARDING SMOKING AND HEALTH
SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO THE AREAS OF PRIMARY HEALTH AND
PASSIVE SMOKE. THIRDLY, I WILL COVER THE DYNAMICS
SgRROUNDINB~THE~ SOC:]A~AcCEPTABI[ITY-'OF~;SM~ING~'~ .... ~ .... ..~o~~
FOURTHLY, I WILL DISCUSS THE CURRENT IMAGES THAT EXIST FOR
SMOKING AND THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY. LASTLY, I WILL
SUMMARIZEWHAT I BELIEVE ARE THE KEY POINTS TO BE DRAWN
FROM THIS STUDY.
(SLIDE #~)
LET'S BEGIN WITH A DISCUSSION OF SMOKERS VERSUS
NONSMOKERS. DEMOGRAPHICALLY,. SMOKERS ARE MORE LIKELY THAN
NON-SMOKERS TO HAVE EXPERIENCED CHANGE IN THEIR LIVES.
THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SEPARATED OR DIVORCED~ TO HAVE
BOUGHT A HOUSE, HAD A CHILD, OR GOTTEN MARRIED IN THE PAST

TWO YEARS. THEY ARE ALSO MORE OFTEN OLDER AND MORE
DOWNSCALE IN OCCUPATION AND INCOME.
CONVERSELY, SMOKERS ARE LESS LIKELY TO BE EMPLOYED IN
PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS, HAVE COLLEGE EDUCATIONS, OR A ~.;
HIGH INCOME.
(SLIDE #6)
WITH RESPECT TO THEIR VALUES AND ATTITUDES, SMOKERS ARE
MORE LIKELY TO FEEL USED IN THEIR DAILY LIVES ON THE JOB
AND BY SOCIEIY. SINCE THEY ARE MORE LIKELYTO FEEL USED
BY OTHERS, THEY BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE MORE THAN THEIR
FAIR SHARE OF WORRIES. SMOKERS ARE ALSO MORE LIKELY TO
FEEL THAT THEY ARE MORE OFTEN UNDER PRESSURE TO MEET
DEADLINES. AND THEY ARE ALSO MORE LIKELY TO ACT QUICKLY
AND HAVE A READY ANSWER. THESE LAST TWO POINTS MAY IN
FACT BE REFLECTIVE OF THE WORRIES AND PRESSURES THEY FEEL
EXIST IN THEIR LI~ES.

(SLIDE #7)
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EQUATION, SMOKERS ARE LESS LIKELY
THAN NON-SMOKERS T6 FEEL COMMITTED TO MEASURES WHICH
:ENSUREJGOOD HEALTH'AND'ARE LESS LIKELY~TO BE MORALISTIC OR
DIFFERENTIATE SHARPLY BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG.
ANOTHER WAY, THEY ARE NOT STRAIGHT ARROWS.
STATED
WITH REGARD TO THE POLITICAL ORIENTATION OF SMOKERS,
SMOKERS ARE MUCH LESS LIKELY THAN NONSMOKERS TO BE A
REGISTED VOTER. IN THE STUDY WE FOUND THAT 29% OF SMOKERS
SAID THEY WERE NOT REGISTERED TO VOTE COMPARED TO 18% OF
NONSMOKERS. CONSISTENT WITH THEIR LOWER VOTER
REGISTRATION THEY ALSO FEEL LESS INCLINED TO BECOME
INVOLVED IN POLITICAL ISSUES.
(SLIDE #9)
IN SUMMARY, WE FOUND SOME VERY REAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS. WE FOUND THAT THEY'RE DIFFERENT
DEMOGRAPHICALLY, ATTITUDINALLY, AND POLITICALLY.
(SLIDE #I0)
" '- ~ ' ' ~ ~'.~C' ~'~-.~ , ~"~ ~,~'~ ~ " . .~'.~ " ~ *. ' : " ~ ~
'
IN TOTAL, WE FEEL THAT THREE COMPONENTS SEEM TO EXPLAIN
THE MAJORITY OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SMOKERS AND
~ORSMOKERS. THESE THREE COMPONENTS ARE STRESS, HEALTH,
TO BELIEVE HE IS UNDER GREATER STRESS THAN A NONSMOKER."
SMOKERS HAVE LESS OF A HEALTH ORIENTATION THAN DO
NONSMOKERS, AND FINALLY, SMOKERS SEEM TO DISCRIMINATE
SHARPLY BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG.
(SLIDE #11)
NEXT, LET'S TURN TO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SMOKING AND
HEALTH ISSUE. THE TOPIC OF SMOKING AND HEALTHIS AN ISSUE
THAT HAS PLAGUED INDUSTRY FOR DECADES.
/
(SLIDE #12)
I - ', ~,, .,--k'~-,_.."

THE FIRST POINT THAT'S CRITICAL TO MAKE ABOUT SMOKING AND
HEALTH IS THAT THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ADULTS, 90%,
IN FACT, BELIEVE THAT SMOKING AFFECTS LONGEVITY. THIS
LEVEL OF BELIEF HAS. BEEN CONSISTENT FOR THE PAST EIGHT
,,-~,~,YEARS~,AND~IS NOT.TOA~~ARGEDEGREE~DIFFERENT~~ET~EEN~ ....
SMOKERS ~ND NONSMOKERS.
ADDITIONALLY, PEOPLE FEELTHAT THEY CURRENTLY KNOW ENOUGH
ABOUTTHE SMOKISG A~DHEAL, H ISSUE. THE PERCENTAGE OF
PEOPLE WHO CURRENTLY BELIEVE THEY KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE
1970.
(SLIDE #14)
LET'S NOW TURN TO A MORE SPECIFIC DISCUSSION ABOUT THE
PRIMARY HEALTH ISSUE.

(SLIDE #15)
THE PRIMARY HEALTH ISSUE IS CRITICAL TO OUR INDUSTRY SINCE
IT IS THE PRIMARY REASON WHY PEOPLE QUIT SMOKING. AS YOU
CANSEE<FROM ThlS' CHART3 COMMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH AS;A
REASON FOR QUITTING CONSTITUTE THE MAJORITY OF RESPONSES.
(SLIDE #16)
THE PRIMARY HEALTH ISSUE IS A DUAL-EDGED SWORD SINCE
SMOKING IS SEEN AS REPRESENTING BOTH SHORT-TERM AS WELL AS
LONGER-TERM HAZARDS TO SMOKERS.
(SLIDE #17)
WE ASKED SMOKERS A SERIES OF QUESTIONS WHICH RELATED TO
PERCEIVED SHORT-TERM HAZARDS OF SMOKING. AT A VERY HIGH
LEVEL BOTH SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS AGREED THAT SMOKERS WHO
QUIT WOULD FEEL BETTER PHYSICALLY, THAT PREGNANT WOMEN
SHOULDN'T SMOKE,.AND THAT SMOKERS COUGH A LOT MORE THAN

NONSMOKERS.
(SLIDE #18)
WITH RESPECT TO THE LONG-TERM HAZARDS OF SMOKING; PEOPLE
BELIEVE THAT THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT SMOKING IS HAZARDOUS
TO A SMOKER'S HEALTH AND THAT CIGARETTES THEMSELVES ARE A
MAJOR SOURCE OF CANCER.
(SLIDE #19)
WHILE THE NEWS ABOUT PRIMARY HEALTH IS LARGELY NEGATIVE,
IT WOULD BE MISLEADING IF I DIDN'T PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE.
WHILE PEOPLE CERTAINLY. BELIEVE THAT SMOKING CIGARETTES IS
RISKY, THEY ALSO CONSIDER IT TO BE A REASONABLE RISK.
(SLIDE #20)
WE ASKED PEOPLE, "RELATIVE TO OTHER THINGS, HOW RISKY IS
CIGARETTE SMOKING." THEY TOLD US THAT SMOKING IS
CERTAINLY MORE RISKY THAN SUCH THINGS AS DRINKING COFFEE,
