Tobacco Documents Online

HT®0033040 Page 39 I TIMES Byran, Ohio June 25, 1964 L1lBh;LIA'G CIGARETS It's quite proper for the governmei t o prevent rig- aret manufacturers from persuading young people that smoking is exactly the thing that every young athlete should take up, and every pretty git•I, and that not .rttoking makes a person a social outcast. It is quite proper that schools teach youngsters something of the results of investigations on this subject. If any manu- facturer should claim that cigarets ar'e really a tonic, or benefit the lungs or heart or breath, it would not he amiss to prevent such statements. Hoa•erer, when it comes to forcing companies to label their product as dangerous, or a poison, that seems like going quite a way. The American people have been alerted by several report,c on the dangers involved by smoking cigarets; some have decided that they will no longer smoke; others have decided that they will go ot:. It would hardly be le.9s sensible to label every auto- mobile as a dangerous weapon, or to mat•k every lake and river as providing the danger of dro+vning, and many athletic events as possibilities of injury. After all it has to be left up to individuals. If they want to smoke, knowing what they know or should know, they will not be stopped. but only artno, cd t)• any euch labelittg. If they don't want to smoke it is not needed. And, by the way, one of the moat dangerous spots In the home is a bath tub - that reall,v should have a warning siga. 140RNINf1 STAhiDARD-TI MS San Angelo, Texas June 26, 1964 BNTERPRT~': & TIMES Brocktor., U'.assachusett:. June 26, 1964 Beyond Its Field EVERY PACK OF CIGARI3TTES sold after Jan. 1 next year a ill have to have a health warning on it as p-dl all forms of eigarette advertising. Thai s what the Federal Tradc Commission has ruled. But the cigarette indusny will light the ruling in the courts. We hope the cigarette industry beats the Federal Trade Commission on that ruling. Why? Berause it is unfair. Aftcr all if a person drinks enough whiskey it can lead to an early death. And the FIC hasn't ordered the distillers to label their products as dangerous to health. Also it.exrends the poxers of the FI'C into an area where it doesn't belong. The public can be made a.eare of the tie-in between eipaoeaes and cancer without cigarette packs spelling it out; without cigarettes advertising jingles harping on cancer. In its field-such as truth in adrerdqing--the ViC does an excellent job. But we feel it ha; moved beyond its fieid in the cigarette pack ruling and that the courts will so juti,ge. Labeling All The Dangers 'fhere's something downrIght ally about the Federal Trade Commission ruling ihat all dgarette packages have to have a "haraid to health" marking on them. That's a piece of knowledge that has been handed down from gen eralfon to generation ever sincr the Indians found out about tobacco. In fact, one or the reasons the Indians prabably fought so much was that the peace pipe tasted so terrible. P:vetybody lmews and alua )•s did know that tobacto Is bad for you. That's one or its chief attractlons. One of the reasons the everage teen•ager lalches ento the habil so eagerly Is that he knows he's not supposed to. Putting that fact anto the packagc and reminding him of what pap- pa and mamma said just last night is only going to make the attraction greater. If we follow this IabelinR Idea to the ridiculous extreme we'll have to mark acrosa the windshield or every automa bile that il Is a dangerous wvapon We'll have to put on every bar of chocolate that too much of It wlll make you fat. And wV'tl have In pnt on every marriage 11- cense that the odds are long against you.