Tobacco Documents Online

TI Newsletter 8'. March 23, , 1982 are pretty well convinced that ascertainment of'the facts or truth will not hurt them but might be damaging,to their de- tractors„"'Hickey said. LEGI A GIEO'RGIA LEGISLAT'IVE committee killed,. 5-10, a:cleani indoor air act that would SLATI ON have restricted public smoking, including in restaurants., Hawaii''s House approved a bill restricting smoking in state buildings. The measure goes to its Senate. Idaho's Senate by voice vote approved a resolutionirecommending smoking/no-smoking sections in public places,, including restaurants. A new Rhode Island bill would restrict smoking in public places including school bu~ild'ings,, supermarkets, hospitals, andimedical offices. JOSEPH KATZ', representing TI at al hearing in Trenton on biillatorestrict public smoking, wasquoted';by a New Jersey paper saying,: "'What we"vee got here is a set of laws in search of a problem. If youitalke the emotion out of' them,, they are meaningless.'"' A Connecticut legislator intro- duced a measure tolf'orce thie!tobacco ind~uistry to: ma~nufa~cture "self-extinguishing" ciigarettes., Punta Gorda (Fla.)' council defeated a proposal to restrict public smoking. Huber Heights ('Ohio)' council banned' smoking at public meetings, rL, SPEC DAlL REPORT ! SENATE HIEAR'ING/W'AR'NI'NiG LABE:Lv~$'ILL • ~ "U.S. RETREATS f -ppoIrStronger Cigarette Warning" head- lined The Washington Post in a page one story about testimony by Assistant Health Secretary Brandt on a bill by Sens. Hatchi(R'- Utah) and Packwood (R-Ore.) to replace the current label with a rotating series. [A subsequ.ent Post story:,, reported as thie:lead item of this~newsletter, claimed that political pressure caused the!Admiinistrationto cha~ngeitsmind.]I Brandt testified thatalthouigh the Administrationsu~pports strong;erheal'thwarning,s, the "specific wording"' and ways in which they may be used is "'still being s.tudied.'r Packwood,, saying,he sensed a weakening iniAdministration support,, wondered aloud' whetther Brandt"s testimony last week (NL 301Y touched a"'sensitive nerve" somewhere. "'Your testimony doess not reflect quite that staunch support we saw five days ago," the! Oregon Senator said.,

TI Newsletter 4 M'arch 2'31, 1982' CAILLINGI CIGA'RETTE'S' "'legal killers," R'ichard Cohen, Waishingtioni Post columnist, said: "If any other product killed and maimed on: this scale, it would hardly be allowed to be sold, not to men- tion advertised." Children who smokey, he wrote,, "'are sure:as shooting killing themselves."' EIGHTY-FOt1R, PERCENT of smokers polled by thie Detroit Newssaid smoking is hazardous to health. Sixty-four percent of these said th~ey plan to stop, the newspaper said. One woman:said she is quitting, alfter her daughter saw a movie in school that "'described smoking, as eating spoonifuls of tar. " THE'APPLETON (Wis.) Post-Crescent I'does not intendto carry the torch for TI.... But we wonder whether some proposals now before. Congress to require stiffer warnings on the dangers of'smokingf are really warranted," it says in an editorial.. TW'0' BLACK' NEW'SPAPERS in New Y'o:rk cairriedl the same article, saying, thiere is "growing b1ack opposition to ainti!-smokiing legiislation." The story ci'ted' statistics compiled iin New York and' Chicaga,,, whiere the vaist miaj'ority of those chargied with vilo1ations o:f smok.i'ng laws on mass transportation apparently are nonwhiiite. The edli'tor of New York Yo.i'ce, Jamies Hicks, is quoted sayringi, "These percentages pinpo t~ie raciismi that's mehindl such a situaitian..," A LETTER to thie!Detroit Free Press has a different complaint, in the tobacco!smoke/nonsmoker controversy. "There ought to be aa few places where a guy can still light up a cigar without end!uring ...indignant outrage. Barrooms and'.racetracks are definitely two such places,"'said the wiriter. He complains that some females have become!"shrewish complainers"'about smoke., "Ladies seeking positions previously held~mostly by mien should be willing to accept the traditional envi ronment thiatgoeswiththejob,, " wri tes Ken MbComb:. "CIGAR SALES today are at their lowest point since 19130, wheni people first began keeping track, "' said a, New York Times feature. It quoted a cigar plant manager: "We"ve got a product that doesni"t0 appeal to~ women, is scorned by health groups,, and' is mainly asso- ~ ciated with a select group of consumers not in the majority." ~ HEA1LlfH' ORGANI'ZATI G~~7 ~ ~ MATTHEWIL. MYERS,, the Federal Trad'e Com- Ah mii ssion, attorney who di rected its staif'f ONS report urgingi "'stroniger" cilgarette hiealth warnings, has been named:

TI Newsletter 7 March 23, 1982, A NORWEGIAN SCIENTIST, writing, in TheLancet, said: '"Iagree with[Carl] Seltzer: 'For the present then it is reasonable too believe that stop..ping',smokiing doe&not reduce the risk of coro- nary heart disease, and'there is no established proof that cig- arette smoking is causally related'!to coronary heart disease. "" "THE EXCESS DEATHS in those women using the Pill have been, said'to be almost entireliy, aattributable to smoking.i This assertion is not inikeeping with the facts," writes Prof., M.P'. Vessey in the British Medicall Journal (2/'27). An excess rislof fatal and nonfatal heart attacks andistroke alsolis associated with! .nonismokers who use the Pil]1,, he writes., Bu!t, he says, "the risk of suffering a fatal arteriali event attributed to use of the Pill is heavily concentrated in smokers." A JAPANESE STUDY in Stroke (Jan, /F'eb. )'. says the overall rate of stroke is consistently higher in that nation compared to the: U.S., but that there is not a, significant relationship between smoking habits and the incidence of strokes. THE COTTON DUST controversy continues_ A new National Acadlemy of Sciences study of byssinosis says it is unproven that cottoni dust causes lasting lung damage. It said pulmonary emphysema in textile workers is associated with cigarette smoking and not caused by the!dust. But a minority report--supported, saidiAP,, by a number of byssinosis res.earchers'--said cotton dust does cause brown lung disease., Also, a three-year study by the W'.orld Health Organization, just released,, saidicotton dust causes both im- mediate and long-term lung, disorders. S0'MF' 20, G00 P'HYSICIAriTS'e are being, sought as volunteers for a ma,jor government experiment to see whether betal-carotene„ a common nutrient found in vegetables,can reduce the risks of cancer, incliuldiing lung cancer. Harvard Univ. scientists will conduct the trial, which also will attempt to determine if aspirin reduces heart attack occurrence. TAXES RHODE ISLAND became the second state this year to hike its cigairette tax „ from 18 to 23 cents per pack. PEOPLE DR., RICHARD HICKEY, who recently submitted, t.estimony to Congress stressing that s.cien- tific questions,remainin smoking and health,,, was quoted inithe! Pennsylvania Gazette saying that the Council for Tobacco Research, which supports some of his w.ork~, puts no restraints on him. "They

TI Newsletter 6 March 23, 1982 jury duty. He then refused to banismoking inijurry rooms, an. Annapolis newspaper reported. RaDALEI PRESS',whichemploys! . 800 inpublishing, a nu~mber, ofhea~lthi magazines, said work place smoking will be banned initheir off'icess in 19:83„ U'PI reports. "'We''re not saying, we won't hire smoikers," said'~ chairman Robert Rodale. "What we:are:telling them is not to smoke ini someone else's face."' FOREIGN AUSTRIAN TOBACCO companies have agreed not to advertise cigarettes yielding more than 2'0 mg tar and not to advertise nonfilter cigarettes,, European publications report. Radio anidiTV Malaysia has banned cigarette commercials, UPI reported., A LONGI-A~WAITED,ag,reement betweeniBritish tobacco industry and government on sports sponsorship was announced,, Londoninewspapers reported. It mandlates,that health, warnings must appear on adver- tising for these sponsored events. SC'~AWIDI~~WAV~I~~A~N, AIRLIN~ES' banned smok~i'~n~g oin~ fts~~ one~~-hour, f~lli'ghlt, b•~:e,twe~eni OsJo and, Stockholm (NL 2941 as, ain experiment. It failed. SAS foumd, from a a lup~ survey that, alithouigih 68 percent 1 iked the change,„ 30 percent of the sm1okers vowed to, switch a.iirl'. i nes. RESEARCH' "NEARLY 80 PER'CENT' of smokers have blood carbonimonoxide levels potentially hazar- d!ous to their health, "' reported AP' on, a, new government study:. "By comparison, national survey data have shown that less than 5 percent of nonsmokers have potentially hazardous CQ' blood levels, "' said AP about the National Ceater~ for Health Statistics report., Any level above two percent was potentially hazardous, the study said. . TI told iniquiring reporters that the report is "puzzling." TI "is not aware of' any scientific demonstration of'health hazard's, in healthy persons with1CO blood levels of only two percent,," a spokes- man saidl., "'MIU.LLO'NS OF AM'ERII'C'ANS risk cancer, lung disease, and other liife- thireatern4nigi i~llnesses by lilvi'ng near 312 i~ndustrilal plants that, pollute the aii'r with three billlion pounds of toxilc substances yearly," environmental groups charged, WPI reported. A' group~ called the hl'atilo.nal Clear Air Coalition,released: airepar#, saying "a. substantia.l fraction of lung cancer co.uild be prevented, by better cont rol of airpol lut iioin."'

TI Newsletter 3 March,23, 1982, ATTO!RNEY MELVINI BELLI plans to fi'le yet another Lawsuit ag.ainst the ci'garette industry, this time for the fiami ly of a 20-year smoker who died of thiroat cancer, the Richmond Ti*es reports. "'T'his is the one we've got them on„"' Belli~ toild, the newspaper. MEDIA "IN TEi'EFULLN'ESS of time, Americans may come to regard The Tobacco Institute the way we recall the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda," writes Peter Ognibene, a freelance writer, in the Chicago Tribune. B'obiGetz, Wichita~ Eagle-Beacon columnist, saidl TI must have Groucho Marx as vice president, since it says a smoking and health controversy still exists,. ~ To assert that there "is no direct evidence that smoking causes any kind of cancer is monstrous,"' said the Lewiston, Maine, Morning Tribune., John Alexander, a Greensboro,, N.C., editor aind columnist, called TI''s.arguments pathetic. MORE EDITORIAL COM1VlENT on the Surgeon GeneraZ "s report: The "f'ind'ings are clear evidencethat the job of informing the pubZic on smoking's dangers shouLd' be pursued' vi,gorousZy„ not dtimi,ntished; „ said The Miami Herald. John McMuZZan, executive editor of that neruspaper, wrote: "For, the first time, there zs serious interest in whether the damage that smokers: are doi.ng to themseZves i's aZso damaging the innocent noMsmokers."' The Milwaukee Journal said the report gives the. State AssembZy"ampZe reason to enact an even stronger CZ'eaM Indoor Air A'ct. "' Reginald Lester, director of the Tobacco Groruers" Information Commxttee, was quoted in a Richmond paper saying the government "lied" to its citizens in the repor,t"'s conclusions. Said' The gartford Courant: "'If' government can't or won't stop peopZe from committz suicid'e, it should at least make tliem constantZy aware of what they're doing. "' NOW'AVAILABLE: New state booklets in the tobacco heritage series on North and South Carolina, which, can be used!with data cards featuring economic statistics onithose two tobacco-growing,states., The books feature bits of history surround'ing, the!cultivatiion of tobacco: in the Tar Heel andiPalmetto States. Also;available, ainew listing of all TI publications. Write Production Services..

TI Niewsletter 5 March, 23'., 19'8C staff' directo r ofi thie new C'oa: litilo.n, on Smokiing, OR Hea, lth. Head- quartered in Washiinig,ton, D.C.,, the fledigling! lob.byiingi organization is backed by 301 voluintary health, education, a~nd: youth groups, includling the American Canicer Socilety,, Lung and Heart Associations. WHENi THE AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION filed with the Federal Trade Commission oniFTC''s staff report urging "stronger" healths warnings onicigarettes., it included a three-page memo it had sent to con- stituent and affiliate associations (8113/8I1) criticizing, TI's full-page ads on the Hirayama research. .It said, "Whether or not passive smoking causes lung cancer"is now the subjlect for more research. Those recent studies are far too few at this point to: be coniclusiv:e. "' It concluded: "The, burd'en of' proof that secondhand smoke does not cause cancer must rest squarely on the tobacco industry. Where are their studies?" NONSMO KER ISSUE "YOUR' EMPLOYEES who smoke are costing you money," says a new booklet issuied, by the Americain Council of' Life! Insurance. Losses iniproducti-, vity in 1980 due to smoking, were estimated at $36 billion,, the, booklet says. "The history of cigarette smoking is, a continuing, national tragedy." A GR'AIDUATE'PSYC'HOLOCYSTUPSNTat S'anF'rancisco~ StateUni,'v. stabbed in the chest a female student in an eZevator when she appareMtZp would not put out her cigarette, according to press reports. Richard. Moss, who was booked for iaavestigation of assault with a deadly rveapon,, told A'P, "I definiteZy think I' was the victtim.. Sh,e thought she had a right to pollute my air."' He claimed that O Dori's CoZZ'um jumped on him,, and that hestabbed her in seZf- ~ 3efense. She apparentZ'y, was not badly hurt. ~ W NONSMO'KER'CRUSADERS are hailing the ne ,Surg;eoniGeneral"s report ZA onismoking,, said an article in the R'ichmondi Times-Dispatch. "This ~, is~ certainly g;oing, to lend support to efforts to:restrict smoking inipublic p]:aces, "' said John,Banzhaf of Action on Smoking & Health. ~ "FURTHER'RE'STRICTIONS! on smoking,in.puublic places are ex- pected ais a result of' the!Surg,eon General's,report,indicating a cancer, risk to nonsmokers," predicts The Kipling,er Washington Letter., "'Many restaurants dbn't mind„"'it says,, "less.ling,ering over-coffee and cigarettes." EXCUS~~ING A~ JURp~R who~ o~b~~jle~ct~s~~ to,smoking during ~ deliberat~ion~s,w.ould~ be opening a"'Pand'ora's box,," said the!court commissioner in Anne Arund~el County, Mdl., inirefusing to excuse!ain anti-smoker,from.