Tobacco Documents Online

Institu!te N!erwslletter PBEPAR'~ED~ BY~ T11EINSTITUTE~. STAFF TO: INFIDRM, THE. INDUSTRY'~ OF'~ NEWSWORTHY~ DEVELOPMENTS 1776 N'8TRIEET° N.NY.. WASHINGTON.I D.0:,20006 ,M 29b'-8A;i4 . ~The' "publiishers"' of this newsletter are, iin reality, all' of the members of the staff of The Tobacco Institute. On their behalf, at this:season when1we reflect on the past and ponder the future, a word to our readers~seems AC.;appropriate. And the appropriate wordl is thanks, fromiall of us, -' to every reader who, without exceptiion,is a source of fi K '.Y na nciaT or moral support and incentiv e in our struggle ' *-to substitute truth for emotion. ~ . Y* T..'. .• , .. , .. . - , .:, . -.,....,,. .. Our task is formidable.Our view of it has been expressed ';perfectly by Samuel B. Guze, M.D.,, vice chancellor for medi- ` caI affairs at Wash,ington,University, where a tobacco in- dustry grant'supportis very basic research. In thanking our 'industry for its participation, he said:! "Success cannot °lue guaranteed, even if the effort is madp;: but failure is -;assured if,the effort is:not made."' ` WpSHINGTON REP. DRINAN (D-Mass.)' announced 19 co- sponsors of his bill, H.R. 10748 (News- letter 136), to outlaw smokingi i'n areas:of' federal buildings and saidi in a House speech that ai"factsheet" about the bill, "pre- pared by, the Ame:.ri'can Tobacco Institute (sic)!,, totally ignores the conclu.- sive medical evidence that smoking is hazardous to the health of'smokers and nonsmokers alike." He predicted',that identical legisllation will be introduced "shortly" in the Senate, and said he's received a lot 11

-2~- of mai'1', which "demonstrates more vividly than any scientific study that the comfort and health of a majority, of Americans is adversel'y,affected'by tobacco smoke they are compelled to breathe."' F Later, Drinan inserted supporting media comments in the Congressional Record. Under a heading,"More:Support For Smokers And Nonsmokers Health ProtectiomAct,," were editorial comments of the Toledo (Ohio) Blade, the Wil- mbngton: (Del.) Evening Journal and' the Knight Quality Radio Network of' New EngllandL „ NO'NSMOKER ISSUE LATEST'COUNT by TI, shows 14 states are. .carrying 62' smoking-restriction bills over to 1976 sessions of their legislatures. -••SI}4 BILLS have already been filed for next year"s Mary- -•- tertainment and inleach price class of seats...Seaside .(Calif.,) councili banned smokingiin its chamber after a 3-month, trial ban. (Fbotnote: Permanent ban followedlproponent discovering the non- to ban smoking in its chamber...Fresno (Calif.) city council re- quired no-smoking areas be set aside in each place of public en- OTHER'A'CTIVITY: Montgomery (A:la.) city council defeated a proposal ing, smoke in, his face. .. ,; ~ . , ing section after he had first said he:wastired of peopleblow- land!legislative session relating to smokingiprohibitions. INDIANA LEGISLATURE will see a proposal to ban smoking in public arenas such as the Indianapolis Market Square Arena. The bill's author adtnitted to the,Indi~anapolis News the arena had'a norsmok- smoking members were a, council majority.) MINNESOTA Health Dept., held a hearing on proposed regulations to implement the state's stiff no-smoke law (Newsletter 129). It had about 100 citizen letters, all but one supporting the regula- tions. The Minn. Assm. of Commerce and Industry testified that the regulations "constitute a reg,u2atory invasion of the work place with- out any,showing that smoking constitutes a health hazard to employees." it till he read of it in ainewspaper. Assemblyman Briggs, proponent of nonsmok,er legislation:, said he thou:ght "bureaucrats" were going too far. The state health director, who drafted the proposal, said'"second'- hand' smoke" is a cancer threat. At a later hearing, '`the Board took the proposal "under submission"'but i~n- " dicated a lack of interest. CALIFORNIA'S Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board proposedla regulation,to require an estimated'. 4!50,000 employers to furnish smoke-free working envi!- +'T^ ronments: 'Pi spokesman said,Gov. Brown wasn"t aware,of ",-, One of the proposals, to allow work,ers in Minn: factories

-3- and warehouses to smoke, was attacked by the "'6,0D0- .; member" Association for Non-Smokers' Rights, which charged it would subvert the law. HAWAII'S GOVERNOR, who quit smoking in July, has announced he sup- ports a,State Department of Health proposal to ban~smoking in pub- lic places. r ~r ~ ~. . . ,' , . - . ." I4ANSASrCITY"S director of convention facilities proposed :'to set aside half the seats in Kemper Arena for nonsmok- .-.ers during hockey and basketball games, r:t.,SAN DIEGO"S CITY ATTORNEY ruled that business licenses -~'''(rNewsLetter 120) cannot be suspended or withheld as a ~hte~airs t3'P ~riforcement di the city's smoking prohibitions. ; THREE WOMEN NONSMORERS tested their right to smoke-free jobs. One, pregnant, quit her California county job where associates smoked, sued for unemployment benefits and :'won a court judgment that they be paid unless the county proves her illness was related to her pregnancy. i, ; r.. : Another' has a case pending for hearing before the Na- - tional Labor Relations Board regional office in Phila- charging that her emplioyer (New Jersey Bell) --, deLphia , _ union (Communications Workers) failed to provide a and smoke-free work environment for her. A,third,, backed by ASH and other acti~vists, has a,case before the Maryland state personnel department, seeking job reinstatement and back pay after resigning from a county job where smoke bothered her.. , DISCOUNT NONSMOKER auto insurance advertising by a California- based company that linked nonsmokers with fewer accidents was cTeared{bya•national' advertising review panel of the Council of'. Better Business Bureaus on points in charges made by the St., Louis and Minneapolis BBB's pertaini~ngito marketing deceptions. IN COURT INTERSTATE COMMERCE'COMMISSION asked the U.S. District Cburt in Dallas to enjoin Continental TraiTways from "failing~to prevent" smoking outside the rear 20% of the seats which:IiCC has allocated to smokers in buses. The complaint cited five specific violations. A:COUNTY JUDGE'ordered an,interim ban on smoki~ngiand tobacco sales in the Detroit Lions' stadium at Pontiac (Newsletter 137) pendinga a full trial of a nonsmoker suit in Feb. Appeals court quickly stayed.the order. ,

-4- LUTHER TERRY, one,of the former Surgeons General,, had appeared'for,the plaintiff. He was cross-examined by the Pontiac city attorney. The: Detroit News account ended' this way:: "'My,professionaT judgment is that it (smoke) is a hazard' (for n(onsmokers)I, but' this has not been specifica3ly proven,' Dr. Terry responded. He added that most nonsmokers find smoke 'unpleasant, obnoxious and'very distastefuL,, but suffer no other effect."" CHICAGO TRIBUNE said most of the "'incredulous"'smokers being haul- ed into the city's special smokers' court (Newslie:tter 127) forr smoking in transit vehicles are pleading guilty. The usual fine is $50, though $300 is possible,and1many of the arrested smokers 3ailed for failure to make bond pro reportedli: y are ' mp-tly =-- Z, a .. Er r ,''~ ~ ~ AND FOUR MEN, one representing his eight-year- TWO WOMEN old son, filed suit (Newsletter 137) in U.S. District Court in Louisiana to obtain aismokingi prohibiti,on in the Superdome stadium.. . . I ~ MED I A GORI AND PETERS of the National Cancer Institute wrote an editorial in Preventive Medicine restating the assumption that most cancer is'caused, broadly speaking, by environmentiali factors. They'well portray ;their sense:of mission in this excerpt: "Control of the environment will require sacrifices which not many ` are willing to accept voluntarily or alone; but eventually society, the carcinogenic characteristics of food'additives, drugs, and other consumer products now iniuse,, and to provide evidence of - - safety for new items intended for widespreadluse. It'i's increas- ing3y, clear that the attitude of'"buyer beware" is becoming repre- hensible to society; this:is slowly being reflected in current Iegis- Iation. - -"Today no one questions the importance of environmental'and occu- pational' hazards, but important as they arey they are probably minorr contributors to overall cancer incidence, when compared to cigarette smoking,and various dietary,factors as yet'not well'defined. "A'Ithough cigarettes are responsible for the majority'of lung can- cers in man„ we stiIZ find it impossible to control'their use. Various economic, social„ and: political factors have thus fa,r blunted' our modest efforts in this direction. "The average man wil'I have to adjust t'o:a much less energetic 1ife- .u_t.sources of contamination.. Tests must be carried out to determine,"" --- . surveillance system should be set' up to identify and localize new • Workers wilT have to be protected from occupational risks and a '--"Zt wi1'I',be necessarg to accelerate legislation to limit pollution. cerned and health'y,existencey ditions; between an opulent but poisoned Iifestyle and a more con- wi21' have to choose between unbounded development and regulated con-

r*l -5- sty2e and'to a modes:t'diet providing;the necessary,minerals, vita- "Jh~+-?'mins and proteins without excessive calories:."' JIM,HARTZ interviewed Caroline Thomas of Johns Hopkins on NBC-TV's "Today Show." For years she's followed the genetic, personality and health characteristics of a group of'medii'~cal students now en- tering middle age, and has reported connections between these fac- tors. She said "the majority of people" with conventionall "ri~sk factors" such as smokingior high cholesterol do not "deveilop the disorder in questi'on. " Hartz: "I wonder what that teaches us?" Thomas: "I think it teaches us not to scare the whole country before we know exactly what we''re looking for.,"'- Hartz: "On that note I think maybe we should quit." JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE has an "appraisal" of' inown and poten,tial lung cancer causes by Fraumenii of NCI's epi- demiol!ogy branch. Whi~le speculating about some causes, he states .that "cigarette smoking is the major,cause...throughout the world." FRENCH,PU:BLICATION,, the Tours L'ESpoir, states: "The cigarette, which has become the scapegoat for a certain life style,. ' is staggering under blows from;the (French) Ministers of Health and'Finance, from the pressy, from piQ1 manufact'urers...,But, when the curtain of'smoke elearsy who wi11' be next in the dock?" THE ANTI-SMOKING LOBBY, says commentator Jeffrey St. John, has! "adopted the salami tactic; one slice at to wipe out the habit." , ,t,•:•.-. a a time in its campaign. GOVERNMENT CURBS should be imposed on cigarette mfrs. _ as a public health measure, suggests an editorial in -the Chelsea (Mass.,) Record, if they refuse to voluntarily lower cigarette "tar"-nicotine content. The editorial -'was based on the 1'atest FTC test results. 4'~ . . , , ,. t+ . . . .. .. ... . . . . .. Q<?DID THE READER'S DIGEST ever say anything good about tobacco? ing,of others, flicks ashes all over the place and now and then sets places on fire. He even increases the death rate for cancer." : Yes.. In the November issue it,says smoking and the i€i: common cold have no relationship. ~• . THE HARRISBURGI (PA.) PATRIOT opposed any new cigarette tax in the state, but said: "The cigarette smoker as a part of society,is not a pleas- ant thing.'---Ke'f'ouls"the afY;':'ruihs' meals for diners, makes smeP1'y, the cloth- RESEARCH FIRST, the Harvardieng,ineer who co-authored' a paper in the New:Eng;landlJournal of Medi- cine last spring showing that nonsmokers aren''t exposed to very much tobacco smoke, told fellow researchers at a Univ. of Kentucky symposium last month that his was only a"pilot" study which needs ®

growth.:.And all the London papers reported that the qovt. has"' • that dogs were i~nvolived in study of' artificial smoking materials. ,forbid use of beagles in further smoking-heaTth research. Anti= ' ; vivisectionists had caused a furor earlier when it was reported -AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSNi. House of Delegates turned down resolutions calling for an end to the tobacco:"'subsidy"'and an end to;smoking in AMA meetiingirooms. HEALTH ORGANIZATDONS. facM_fnrnAc. DR. C. ARDEN PIQLLER, president of the American Public Health Assn.„ called for higher taxes on alcoholic beverages andltobacco to dis- courage consumption--and for government control of,advertisiing of "'junk foodls" which he,said!include cold cereals,, sugary snacks and made a,joint statement in Stockholm that environmental, cigarette smoki~ng. factors cause up to 8Q% of cancer and the most prominent factor is disease and lungicancer in smokers. He noted,that although fatal _heart attacks and lung cancer mortality in young males had droppedi the reasons were unknown., . _ . . --... .~.,., .. ;,5~.. .. . ' PfOPLE iing the link, between cigarette smokingiandiLung cancer, ment in cancer research inirecent years was establish- According,to:CBS they also:said the greatest achieve- ... ACTIiNG DIRECTOR of the National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health, Charles Althafer, is reported by UPI as saying cigarette mfrs,, are putting less tobacco in,their prodticts,, thus decreasing "tar"_ and nicotine, principal agents to which he attributed heart nQU I.re AMPAIGNS AMERICAN RESEARCHERS Baltimore, Dulbecco and Temini, winners of the 197'5 Nobel Prize "CATCH 22" DEPT.: A reporter from the Shreveport (La.) Times enrolled in a$35Q guaranteed-torquit-or-your-money-back,, aversion-therapy, stop- smoking clinic. Five shocking days later the reporter was announced a graduate and a week later was back:to his normal,level of smoking. He returned for his refund. While he got the newspaper's money back, he was told he "didn't understand'the terms of the contract:: all that was guaranteed was an enrollee wouldn't want to smoke at the end of the f'ive-day program.

-8- PSYCHOLOGIST at Eastern Michigan Univ. who teaches people how to stop such habits as bitingif'ingernails has started a campus "Stop Smoking Center" as a research project, according to the Ypsilanti Press. He is quoted: "There are no tried and true methods for stopping...We're looking for better ways."' man expected roy,aTties. . _ . ,. _ . • table gift but only a business arrangement out of which Strick- WALL~STREETJOURNAL said the U.S, Tax Court denied Robert:Stri~ckman ai$1.,7 mil- lion tax deduction for the cigarette filter he turned over to Calumbia Uni~v., in 1967. Court reportedly ruled it was no chari- MI S'CELLANEY CANTON (TECX.), OUTLAWED DRINKING or possession of aTco- holi~c beverages in "any public place." The lo:cal~ county attorney said he,doubted the measure could survive a, court test. .s.

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