Tobacco Documents Online

I/ii/78 ~~ To: Chief Executives General Counsel FOR YOUR INFORMATION ~AP -) ,Hs ( ~ uJ oO J

b j EMBARGO : " k. ~2,.:', ~.~ ~" 2 . I1' • :4~'~':.'~ i .0 ~ . ~--$" NOT Oa USE BEF0aE DEL1:VEaY - AT 9:30 A.M., ES'T, JANUARY ii, 1978 • ADDRESS BY JOSEPH A. CALIFAN@, JR. SECRETARY OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE BEFORE THE NATIONAL INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON SMOKING AND HEALTH SHOREHAM HOTEL WASHINGTON, D. C. January II, 1978 I want to thank you, Dr Terry -- for your remarks, and for =he leadership you have given, over ~he years, =o ~h~ public health effor~ =ha= brings us here ~oday. ... . - .~ , -. ., .. . .,. ~ • . .- . . .-, It gives me great pleasure =o accep~ =he chairmanship of Nationa! Education Week on Smoking. Two and one-half years ago my son Joe, who was then II years old, told me that the best birthday present I could give him would be ~o stop smoking. I se= abou= then to give up cigarettes. And =he best present I could give Joe turned out =o be one of the hardes~ =hings I have ever tried ~o do. Eventually I quiu, on October 21, 1975. Two and one-half years ago, I acted as a father and an individual.

t • ," " . t o- o C - 2 - One year ago, ! became secretary of the cabinet depart- men= responsible for the health of this na~on. It is in that capacity i speak today. I speak as a Secretary who has been studying the scientific evidence of smoking and health for the past year. I do no= bring to this podium the zeal of an ex-smoker who wants to convert the world. .... . . . . . . .....:!.'. . ,., . From my public work in the past year, I do bring the frightening knowledge that cigarette smoking is Public Health Enemy Number One in the United States. From my private experience, ! bring the knowledge that to stop smoking can be the most difficult thing a human being can do. From my personal philosophy, I bring a profound and unyielding belief in freedom, free will and free choice. treasure the nation which provides this to 218 million citizens. J But i recognize that a choice can be free only if it is informed, that a decision can be genuinely voluntary only if i= is based on all the information. =D O0 00

4 l I ! 0 ! I i I i I I l i i ! i l i ) ! ( - 3 - As the chief public health officials of this government, =he Surgeon General and I are determined =o fulfill our responsibility =o provide information co permit American citizens to make a genuinely free choice about smoking and their own health. That is one of the central objectives of =he program we propose today. Fourteen years ago today, Dr. Terry and his colleagues issued the Surgeon General's Report on Smoking~and Healt~ " Sihce 1950, evidence had been accumulating that a wide range • , . . . " of serious diseases was linked t0 Cigarette smoking The i i i I ! i I Surgeon General's Report confirmed that evidence beyond a reasonable scientific doubt. The 1964 report established the causal link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. It suggested the strong connection between smoking and heart disease. And it connected smoking with other serious, even fatal, health problems such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Since then, the evidence linking these killers to smoking has become over-~helming. The Surgeon General's Report has been the basis for a wide range of efforts to reduce the ravages of smoking on GO

/ -// ! I ! J ! ! i .j J | I ! i ! ! I 1 t - 4- the Nation's health. report was published, In the fourteen years since the we Nave made real progress. Smokers in America have become a declining minority. In 1964, more than half the men in America were smokers; today only 39 per- cent smoke. There are today 14 million more ex-smokers in America than there were in 1964. Twenty-eight states have passed laws restricting smoking in public places and in health facilities. The commercial airlines, and many stores, restaurants and public buildings, limit smoking. Many smokers, concerned about the dangers of smoking, have switched Co lower-tar and lower- nicotine brands. O Across the nation, public interest groups have organized to discourage smoking -- and to assert the right of nonsmokers to clean air in offices and public places. O~ 00

f C -3- I J • ~" * i i:<i:: I Since 1966, eve:-/ package of cigare=-es has carried a warning abou= she health dangers ~f smoking; since 197!, broadcast ¢igarec=e advertising has been beamed. • o~r" "'" °~ : ° • . t." • Final!7, =he ec!~.ue==e of smokin~ has changed, slowly bu~ perceptibly. Once the smoker asked, • ' '"Would you likea cigarette?". .Todayche question ": is, "Do you mind i5 i smoke?". .And m~re am.d more Courage Co a/Islet. wi~h a police bun emp. haci=, "Yes, I d= mind." Clear!7, a green deal has been accomplished in ~hese pas~ four~ee~ ~ears. And man7 of Chose accomp, lisb_~encs are =he work of or=aniza=lons like chose represen=ed here today: the ~xnerican Cancer Socie=y, =he America= Hear= Association, the American .L~g ,Mssocia=!on, and man7 ochers. But clearly, much remains co be done. For in spice of :p P all =he encourage=en= we have given them noc =o smoke, =he people of the Un!=ed S=aces are still among the world's heaviest smokers. In 1@76, =hey bought 626 billion cigare==es. $80ZO4411

,i 4 ° . ~,~,,i•~ i i " .•. k ° • . :•.. ,• 4; -6- ~ Oue of ~he mos= alarming dIeve!oDmen~ since !964 has been ~he dramaui¢ increase in smoking by young women be,_-~een 13 and !9 -- ~he percenhage of ~eenage SimS5 wh~ sm=ka has almosu doubled. The d_~er_..c_ in smoking r===-s be~;~en . teenage boys and girls has disappeared; . . likely as boys ~o smoke. girls are now as_ . ,.." And ~he pro-teen si~ua~iom is even more frightening. • T.ma major urban area on =he wesz coas~,•i ou= of 20 childrer is smoking by age !!. Jus~ one year older, ac a~e 12, ~his fiche Skyrockets ~o ! ou=of 5. " • ..... • .... Each year, several hundred million dollars in cigare===_ • adver=ising -- and the powerful habituating efface of ¢~gare==e seeking --are a poten= combination, l'ney add um =o some shocking fac=s abou= disease and dea=h in .America: @ Las= year, smoking was a major factor in 220,000 dea=hs from hear= disease; 78,000 lung cancer dea=hs; and 22,000 deaths from o~her cancers, including cancer of ~he mouth, cancer of =he esophagus, cancer of =he pancreas, cancer of ~he kidney and cancer of ~he bladder, SOZ0441Z

,° ~ ° C ~7I @ A0 per=an= of all ca,.ca= in =ales is car.sad by smoking. • " ' • . , ° " °b:" q @ 85 percent of dea=hs from bronchitis, emphysema and ocher lung disease would no= happen -- if ..e .. people would s=op smoking. These fac=s mean =ha= people who smoke are corral=ring slow-morion suicide. The cost in grief and sadness for =ha families of ~ha rio=ires is beyond ca!cu!a=iou. And the economic cos= is elm=s= beyond belief: each year, according ~o es=ima=es, smoking adds be~-;aen $5 and $7 billion =o heal=h-care cos'~s; =ha cos= of !os= pr~duc=iviry, wages and absen=eeism cause/ by smoking is $!2 =~ $!8 billion. Research since =he !964 Surgeon General's Repor= has proven cha= smoking is even more dangerous ~han we ori==inal!y believed; i~ accounts for even more diseases and disorders O than we realized fourteen 7ears ago:

' o -8- [ ... - . • °.. ° o° .. ":.x . @ • ,. • . ! Women whe ==_ke bir-h control Dills, for ex~-9..!e -- par=icularly women aged 30 and over -- are un ~o 50 ~imes m~re likely to have hear= ~=aoks if ~key s=mke. Recent experiments have sho~-/" ~ha~ babies °-,..° o~-" absorb nicotine before o=r~h with clear effects ou =heir respire=ion and ocher viral signs. ... . .°.. " There is evidence that certain indus=ria! workers • who;smoke, par=icularl7 asbestos and cemen= workers, run dramatically great_r risks of cancer and Other fun== disease because smoking in=erac=s with ocher dangerous substances. So =he evidence of fourteen years: fourteen years o~ lu=ensive biomedical research; four=een years of exp. ensive effor= by the most skilled physicians and exp. er=s in epidemio!og is clear; i= cara-.o= be ignored Smoking rains nea_th. Smoking kills " Vir=ual!y a!l physicians accep~ =his evidence; in no professional group has =he decline in smoking been greater. And vir=ua!l7 all the public accepts this evidence. I know of no parents who want ~heir children to smoke. ~D C~ C~ A~ C~

• 0 , . . . • . • . • ! I I I i I I i ! i I I I i -9- In fact, most smokers accept this evidence: 80 percent agree that smoking is harmful; a majority of current smokers have tried at some time to quit, but =hey have failed -- often, because they are addicted. ! I ! i q ! J Those who ignore these facts are indulging in the most dangerous kind of wishful thinking: they are, quite literally, whistling past the cemetery in their search for a way to . .. .rationalize a. habit that can become a dangerous dependency. .... ..... '. The...fe~,- mostly in =he cigarette industry --.who attempt to refute this overwhelming consensus of the experts are a self-interested minority. Their attempts to deny the overwhelming medical evidence about smoking and health are, in essence, an attack upon science. The fact that Americans are still among the world's heaviest smokers; the fact that disease and death associated with smoking are so widespread and costly; the fact that new evidence implicates smoking in other serious diseases -- all these facts point to one overwhelming conclusion. We must do more, if we are serious about preventive health in America, to end this waste of life. O0