Tobacco Documents Online

TI~E ¥OBACCO Smoke & Ire At ,. House Commerce Committee n'~eeUn8 ]~t w~k. ~veral ~tical ~mun t~k~ tough to Federal T~de ~ion Chief Paul Rand Dixoa Thw wam~ him ~o forg~ his plan ~o m~e ~garet~e manufacmre~ place ~isooli~e warning labels on ~heir u~, !~ ~ t~ lale, replied D~on. who then sh~k~ eye.body by disclosm~ that lhe order had already been D~bud~ copi. Io Ihe ~n~essmen. he ~m~k~ semewha~ s~astlc~lly: "We had our printen w~king all in c~e ~ou want~ one." ~e ~min8 w~ su~xising, and so was the ha~hn~ of the order. If Ihe ~£ 8or i~ way, t~ c[~arene make~ w~ld have to ~nt hcahh w~nin~ on all their packa~ b)' nexl Jan. I, and wril~ them inlo all ad~e~is~mcn~ ~ July I, 19~. ~ile the wording w~ leEI up to the ~ompani~, the ~C made clear Ihal the m~sag~ would have Io indi- care cle~ly that "cigarene smoking da~ero~ IO heallh and may cause dealh ~om cancer and olhee disease." ~p~inB lot the indusl~', Reynolds Toba~o Chairman Bowman Gray called the order "unwise, u~w~ant~.'" Toba~ mon chafed that Ihe ~C had ex~d~ ils authority, made pbns to I~ the case in the couP. The~ plenty of suppo~ from ~mhern Guy- eeno~ and ~n~e~men. O~ciais in the de~en~ of ~griculm~. Commerce, and Hesith, Education and wonde~d whclher~hcy should ha~c jut- isdicfion in the mailer instead o~ the io- ~ndenl ~C~r whelher any label- i~ ale should ~ enfo~ al all. Even ~mc o~ Ihe sh~l criti~ o~ Ihe in- dus~ qu~lion~ the I~alib' and p~ p~ety of the order. Surg~n ~e~e~l Lmh~ Ter~, whose fact-finding M~e~ it eli with Ihe ~n lul Jaou- ~ no ~okin~ and heMth, doubted • az the ~C had jmisdicflon, • ~t ~e ~allep ~ lu~ed ov~ Io ~ and ~rug Mminis~mion. With a Ion8 dispute certain in the ~s ~d ~, Dixon himsel[ a~ that the ~C or~r would not lake e~t ~or yea~--if ever. while, climbing sel~ of ciga~ showed that Amed~m ma~ ~ enjoy- ln~ tt I~ now, ~1 IAey e~ m~ ~en ~t~ the Su~n ~n. er~l's ~. Ju~ 6, z96~ THE FTC: Label on the Pack? Almost casuaUy, b,~ly, s0ft-spoken Fedmal Trade CommLuinn chairman Pa.I Band Dixon Rred his thunderbolt last week while testifying before the House Interxtate Commerce Commission in Washington. Beginning next Janum'y. said Dixon, tho FTC will require all c/garotte labels to "clearly and pmml. nenflv" warn smokers ~at smoking could kill tfiem, and by ne~ July, all cigarette ads will have to carry the warning too. The .ew FTC rule. set forth in a 205-page book (devoted mainly to out- I~ning the legal and moral basis of the four-man commission's action), left the Di~on: 'We've decided' N T|003302S exact wading of ~e warning up to the cigarette companies. But Di~on con- ceded the phrasing, to win approval, would have to stick fairly close to the con'.mix,ion's own blunt statements that "cigaret, e smoking is dangerous to health and may cause death from can- eer and other diseases." Ceunlerattoek:, The FTC's ruling, pre- dictably, raised a storm among tobacco interests. Modison Avenue ad agencies handling cigarette aecounls dise~lly referred reporters to their clients. And the comment of one Philip Morris was typical. "There's a lot of room and t~e to light the," he said. "Any good lawyer would say to concede nothing," added a P. Lorillard & Co. spokesman. Most outspoken were tobacco.state poli- ticians. North Carolina Guy. Terry San- lord said he would support lawsuits against the FTC. and North Cantina Democratic Rep. L.H. F'ounttdn termed the health warning "capricious, arbitrary. um~eusonahle, and unmpported.~ Foun- lain and four other Southern House members quickly introduced llve sesolu- eons ahned at crippling or barring out- Hght an)" FTC action against cigarettes. Dixon% rebuttal to all this L~. 'q, Va have made our decision.'" ' Cong~ssinnal action either for or against the F'rc stand, hmvever, unlikely this year. And a compro. raise between the FTC and the indus- try isn't considered likely either. (Dixon, though, indicates the commis- sion ~might~ Ilfl its requirement the health label appear in ads if the industw would accep~ the label warning and other progress is made.) In any event, the industry's rmly real alternative would seem to be to thai. lenga the FTC's legal rights to make auch a ruling. R.J. Beynolda" chairman Bowman Gray, speaking for the tobacco industry at the House committee hear- lugs last week, aL~'eed. '%Ve opposed the issuance of this rule during the course o| the [FTC] pmeeedlngs," he said. ~We shall oppose it in ~e courts."