Tobacco Documents Online

! i - I0 - ( I am today announcing a vigorous new program on smoking and health: a program of public education, regulation, and research -- backed by higher budgets, more energetic efforts, and a renewed commitment from =he government department that is charged with protecting =he nation's health. EDUCATION ' .... The first and most important element of this new program on smoking and health will be a major public information and education effort against smoking. Even the most comprehensive research; even the most convincing body of fact, is useless if not communicated effectively. And, in the last fourteen years, vigorous public information efforts have done the most to encourage people in America to stop smoking -- or not to start. We intend, with the cooperation of dozens of voluntary health agencies and other groups across America, to step up existing-efforts to inform and educate --and to launch some major new initiatives. 0~

i- • I ! I ! i I I i I i• ! ° i .! ! | ! I i I I I | I I I I I ! I f - !I - ( "°i " From 1967 to 1971, broadcast announcements about smoking and health encouraged millions of citizens to quit smoking. But in 1971, cigarette advertising was banned from radio and television, and the number of anti- smoking announcements decreased sharply. BroadcasTers were no longer legally bound, under the fairness doctrine of the Federal Communications Commission, to air them. We strongly believe that the danger of smoking to the public health justifies an increase in the number of broadcast messages on smoking and health. I am therefore writing to the heads of the major broadcast networks, and to the National Association of Broadcasters, asking that they consider, in the interest of the public health, increasing the number of anti-smoking announce- ments they broadcast. CD ~J

• I i • ! t i ! I ! ! L I ! I ! I i. ! I I m ! i I I i i ! ! ! ! I The Department Of Health, Education, and Welfare, in cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission, will petition the Federal Communications Commission to review its policies on public service announcements, so =ha= more such announcements will be-aired ~. thrpughout the entire-~broadcast day. - . • Beyond. thisr we are• taking a number of other informational and educational steps. Because smoking is a habit that leads to dependence, the only sure way to stop smoking is not to. start. We will, therefore, concentrate many of our efforts on prevention among young people of school age. At a meeting this afternoon, I will urge the Chief School Officers of the fifty states to develop comprehensive health-education programs dealing with the dangers of smoking in every school system in the country. O0 O0

-13- 6 I have made the same request in a letter to each one of the Nation's 16,000 school superintendents, and have pledged cooperation and support from HEW and the U.S. Office of Educazion. I ~ ° . The National Institute of Education and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development will mount the most penetrating program of research ever.undertaken to learn what motivates children and teenagers to smoke or not to smoke. The Public Health Service and the Office of Education will develop a broad 9ublic education and awareness program involving the full range of communications media to motivate teenagers -- and pre-teens -- not to smoke. As part of this public information program, we will develop and disseminate new materials and techniques to help people quit smoking. O0

] t i i t ? f i ! ! ! I ! t i :I t "L ! - 14 - Q Finally, we will target special informa=ion and education efforts at specific high-risk groups: pregnant women, industrial workers in especially dangerous occupational settings, and persons who have health problems that are likely to be Worsened by smoking. An example, which ! am announcing today, concerns the increased risks of smoking for . °- women who use birth-control pills. The on 'O Food and Drug Administration is broadly o~ revising its labeling requirements for such ¢¢ pills. Part of that revision will be a prominent warning that cigarette smoking increases the risk of serious adverse effects on the heart and blood vessels, especially in users who are over 35. Every woman who takes the pill will receive a pamphlet explaining its benefits and risks -- including a prominent warning which says, "Women who use birth-control pills should not smoke." O0

°, , -15- % .. ° • ,. .° ... I am also asking the Commissioner of Food and Drugs systematically to investigate =he interaction of smoking wi~h other therapeutic drugs, so that users who smoke can be made aware of the special dangers they face. Whenever smoking increases the risk to the individual taking the drug, that fact will be prominently labeled. ; • • . . • . . • REGULATION A second .major element of our program is to encourage more vigorous enforcement efforts against smoking -- and to protect the rights of the nan-smoking majority .in public places. O We begin in our own HEW house. We have drafted a new Policy on Smoking in HEW-occupied buildings: as of this morning, it became the official PfEW policy. Thfs new policy bans smoking in conference rooms, classrooms, auditoriums, elevators and shuttle vehicles. Within practical limits, the work areas of smokers and non-smokers Will be separate and physically distinct. In recognition of the rights of individuals who wish to cont'~nue to smoke smoking 0O areas will be established. But the general rule Pf will be "No Smoking -- except in smoking areas.

I i . • ° -16- Most importantly, it will be the policy of the Department that smoking in shared work areas will be prohibited at the request of non-smokers whose health is affected. It is appropriate that this department should have the strongest smoking policy in government -- one Chat is appropriate for the chief health agency of government. •° "I am sending a copy of these new HEW guidelines to the •chief executives of each of the Nation's ". - , - . . "500 largest corporations, in the hope that they will follow this example. • . . ... Jay Solomon, Administrator of the General Services Administration, has agreed to set up a joint HEW- GSA Working Group with a view toward strengthening GSA's anti-smoking guidelines for the more than I0,000 buildings it manages for the government. Our aim is not only to protect the health and well-being of Federal employees, but to set a standard for other employers across the Country. I am today writing Chairman Alfred Kahn of the Civil Aeronautics Board expressing my strong support for the amendments it has proposed: 00 %.•

C - 17 - First, to ban all pipe and cigar smoking on commercial airliners, and Second, to provide that airline employees shall enforce the rules separating smokers and non-smokers. • ° In addition, I am urging the CAB to consider :" ~avorablya proposal to ban all smoking on ....... commercial aircraft. • .'.° g Twenty-eight states have laws governing smoking in public places and certain facilities like hospitals and nursing homes. ! am writing to the Governors and legislative leaders of states who do not have such legislation or whose legislation could be strengthened -- urging that they enact strong new "clean indoor air" laws. We are including, with our letter, a model for such state legislation, based on the best of the existing state laws, such as Minnesota's and Alaska's. I am directing the National Institute for Occupa- tional Safety and Health to step up its effort, s to develop standards for restricting smoking in certain

I ! ( - 18 - hazardous settings -- especially in such occupations as .the asbestos industry, where smoking increases already-existing health hazards. Chairman Michael Pertschuk'of the Federal Trade Commission has agreed to join in the anti-smoking program. Together with the Federal Trade Commission, we will consider recommendations to: strengthen warnings on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements; include tar, nicotine and carbon monixide levels on package levels and in advertising; include in advertisements warnings directed to special groups for whom the dangers of smoking are gravest; empower the Federal government to set maximum levels for hazardous substances such as tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarettes.

"I k | a J. ( - 19- INCENTIVES i Q q i t i i i 1 .$ 4.. !_ ! -t I I ! i I t I ! I • ° ,. - . Third, we will explore ways of giving people more powerful incentives, financial and othe~;ise, to protect their health by not smoking. • . Treasury Secretary Blumentha! and I are forming an inter-departmental task force to examine tax policies relating to cigarette use. The existing Federal excise tax on cigarettes has remainedunchanged at eight cents since 1951. The question of whether tax policy can influence decisions about smoking deserves careful study in the interest of the public health. The task force will examine a range of possible measures including: • .'. : "" • -... A general increase in the Federal excise tax on cigarettes; A graduated tax according to nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide content, giving manufacturers incentives to market less- hazardous brands, and giving smokers incentives to change to less hazardous brands.