Tobacco Documents Online

[cT~ scientific sta ff eared by SHB for internal use I/8/813 A SUGGESTED RESPONSE TO .... THE CHARGE OF ADDICTi0~.~ ~,~.,~.~ Background The beZ£ef that the subject of a~d£et£on w£ZZ be oonta£ned £n eCtber the ~etter of transmCttal to Congress £n the Surgeon ~enera~'s report £tseZf £s based on news storCes that arose after a summer meetCng o~ the NatConaZ Adv£sory Couno£Z on D~ug Abuse, ~be sto~£es reported t~at the Coune£Z had recommended to the Surgeon General that an add£ot£on wa~n£nz be p].aeed on e£ga~ette packages. The Council's recommendation was based on the report of an August 1979 meeting sponsored by NIDA in which seventeen "experts" were convened as a "Technical Review Group on Cigarette Smoking as an Addiction." The group concluded "That cigarette smoking behavior should be considered a form of addiction, and tobacco In the form of cigarettes, an addicting substance. "I Given the one-sided conclusion of the NIDA Report, one wonders why the final section recommends research progr~s to elucidate "the behavioral and pharmacological variables which influence both the maintenance and elimination of cigarette smoking behavior..." and to explore "the role of nicotine in the initiation and maintenance of cigarette smoking." Such statements seem to suggest that there are more questions than answers about the smoking habit and that CO~EMTIAL: ~OTA TOBACCO LITIGATION . 311419

any conclusion that cigarettes are addictive is premature. The description of smoking as an "addictlon~has become a convenient way for anti-smokers to criticize both the product and its consumers. One example is the recent statement of a member of the National Advisory Council who said his group used the term "addictive" in its recommendation because it"s "sort of a dirty word."2 in studying smokers' motivations, scientists have examined a variety of possible physiological, pharmacolo- gical and psychological mechanisms that may be involved in smoking behavior. They have looked at the effect of nicotin~ on various components of the body. They have looked at the situations in which people smoke, the frequency with which they smoke, the length of the puffs they take on their cigarettes. They have attempted to determine whether or no~[~ people smoke more frequently or more intensely ifthey are ~o~~ g~ven c~garettes with a lower nicotine content than those they are accustomed to smoking. They have examined what happens to smokers when they stop smoking. They have attempted to characterize particular smokers according to classification systems based on the smokers' motivations. The results of these numerous scientific investigations have been varying and often conflicting. More than anything else, the research has shown that smoking is a complex behavior, that people smoke for different reasons, and that individuals react differently to smoking. T~e difficulty in distinguishing COI~IFIDENTIAL: TIMN 311420 SOTn TO nCCO

psychological from phy-~;iological effects has also been a problem. Recent scientific publications indicate that the role of nicotine is unclear and the hypothesis that people smoke for pharmacological effects is unproven. One group of researchers has described the area of smoking motivation as "virtuallyunexplored.3 An arti@e in the October, 1977,' issue of the British Medical Journal describes tobacco smoking as a ~omplex phenomenon, some aspects of which are the physical act of smoking, taste and smell, relief of tension and enhancement of sociability.4 The final sentence of this article s~erized the current state of knowledge as . follows "But what makes people smoke is still largely a mystery..." It is interesting to note that one well-known anti-smoking spokesman, Dr. Ernst Wynder of the American Healti Foundation when asked whether he considered cigarette smoking to be an addiction replied; ."There is some controversy among my colleagues in this area. I consider it to be an habituation. In other words, once you quit the habit, your system will not collapse like that of a heroine addict, ,5 but you will live perfectly happily ever after... Those who claim that smoking is addictive often c~te studies which report that high percentages of smokers want or have tried to stop smoking but continue to smoke. However, such CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION TIM 311421

studies may not be ve1~Lable. In a recent Lancet a~ticle, reseaPchers "encouPaEed caution in what is made of what smokers say about theil~ wish to Eive up smokinE and their a~Sempts 50 do so."6 The authors, wh6 are opposed ~o smoking~ also pointed out that ~ertain psycho!oEical pPessu~es on smokePs miEht make sSatemen~s abou5 their desires attempts 5o stop smoking suspect. One often repea~ed claim is that smokePs are "addicted" to nicotine. Yet, i5 is useful to remembeP that the Eove~nmen~ aEency responsible fop the PeEulation of druEs~ the Food and DvuE Administration, has denied petitions seekinE ~o have oigarettes oontaininE nlco~ine PeEulated as a "dPug" on two separate occasions. The most ~ecent vullnE, in la~e November, 1980~ ~eitevated the position 5hat ciEa~e~tes do no5 fall undeP FDA juPisdiction. Claims that ciEa~'eSte smokinE is an addiction Pemain unproven. They repPe~|ent pvimaPily an attempt 5o condemn a product and the person who en~oys it by ~h-e use o~ an emo~ionally charged Produced es r~qa~d ~.e~ ~.~.~~.~ ....... 7. ............. January 8, 1981 CONFIDENTIAL: MINNESOTA TOBACCO LITIGATION TIMN 311422