Tobacco Documents Online

.:c.bi-uary 4. 1982 . •pew"= i ^II,qOKa.\lll'?I ni Is.iLC'7 :?feeting of' Public lsstie~ Committee ul the American Cancer Soc.iety, .\ew York, Feb. 3, 1982 The ACS lioard of Directors and various committees are meet- ing in New lurk this week (such meetings are held regularly two or three times a year). The Public lssues Committee met yester- day afternoon, Feb. 3, and among the activities and actions that took place were these: 1. The committee adopted a resolution calling for an in-- crease in the federal excise tax on tdbacco in order to deter the consumption of 'cigarettes and the beginning of smoking. 2. Also adopted was a resolution urging Congressional pas- sage of anti-smoking legislation that has been introduced by Rep. l+'a unan and Sens. Hatch and Packwdod. Included were recom- mendations calling for: establishment of an Office on Smoking and Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, stronger labeling on cigarette packages, and for the Federal Trade Com- mission to collect and publicize data on tar-nicotine-carbon monoxide-additive content of cigarettes. 3. Since the November 1981 ACS National Conference on Smok- ing and Healtli, the ACS, American Heart Association and American Lung Association hai•e formed a"coalition't in Washington to work on anti-smoking legislation and related matters. The executive vice presidents of the three organizations met recently in New lork and have issued mandates to staff people to cooperate fully in the jointt effort; a steering committee is now being formed. The National lnteragency Council on Smoking and .-lealth has said it wants t., participate in the operation and to share the cost. The March of Dimes organization has been approached to join the coalition. 4. The Board of Directors was to meet today (Feb. 4) to dis- cuss recommendations from last November's smoking conference. 5. The committee adopted a resolution (in the form of a "statpment of concern") advising curtailment or cessation of the ube of' smokeless tobacco products. There was considerable dis- cust-ion of the statement, which was read by Lawrence Garfinkel vice president for epidemiology and statistics and director of cancer prevention. tle said efforts had been under way for a year and a half to prepare it. He deplored television ads for ehet,"- ing tobacco aimed at young people: the first step is addiction that leadr to the smoking of cigarettes. Thc• ACS, (iarfinkel read, recognizes that more data are needed on the "dei'init.ive relationship between cancer and the use of smokeless tobazto, and thatt more research is needed. l~lnlYr ~1•' Z(!1;?t L/ •,. I, ...,• ,:.. •i: ees 744! i

2 •~ Reports oi' oral cancer in the U.S. are difficult to document, hr noted, whereas the disease is widespread in India. In rural part_ of the U.S. south, snuff has been implicated in oral cancer and cancer of the cheeks and gums. A committee member (Dr. Wilkinson?) asked why, since the statement said there was no evidence of the adverse effects of smokeless tobacco, a statement was needed? Garfinkel said there were a few studies (case controls) and anecdotal material. A head and neck cancer surgeon in the room (Dr. Aronoff?) said there was no doubt that snuff causes cancer -- he thinks there are thousands of cases of snuff-dipper's cancer. Dr. R. Lee Clark of Houston, a committee member, said there were 250 cases of snuff-caused cancer at his institution (he meant records). 6. Former Sen. Birch Bayh, introduced as the ACS legislative representative in Washington, said he was looking forward to serving tne agency and implied he and his people would be able to do much for it. The "smoking battle is a controversy," he said, but with the right kind of resources and activity, t:here's a"good chance" of success, especially in regard to the federal excise tax matter. i (ACS executi.•e vice president Lane Adams credited Bayh with helpinE retain the 52-million budget for the Office of Smoking and Health a few months ago. Bayh was asked tb help though he didn't officially go to work for the ACS until Jan. i.) 7.The committee adopted a resolution calling for the ACS to issue "guidelines" for the public on human carcinogens (e.g., hair dyes, formaldehyde, etc.). The guidelines were prepared by Dr. 1•rank Rauscher, vice president for research, who said reaction to report.t ot' human carcinogens need no longer be treated on an ad hoc basis. 8_ Also adopted was a "statement of concern" on formaldehyde, the J'ifth draft of which was read by Rauscher. He noted that for- maldehyde is carcinogenic in experimental animals, but that there's no evidence it's l inked directly to human cancer. Someone pointed out. that the latter statement was not included in the proposed st.atement, and it was inserted. (Rauscher said virtually all chem- icals that cause cancer in animals also do so in humans. He said Irving Selikoff helped draft the statement. 9. Also adopted were resolutions urging Congress to extend the hataonal Cancer Act for three years and to budget the National Can- cer Institute at 9].2.-billion for the next fiscal year. 10. P:CI director Vxncent DeVita, Jr., in a"pep" talk, said great stride,- had been made in basic cancer research iri the last decade. He said an hCl scientist (Robert Gallo) seems to have identified the first human tumor virus (lymphoma) and that the ' findin,¢ ha.* heen confirmed by Japanese researchers. b" I