Tobacco Documents Online

Q a r nstitu!te NeVsletter PREPARED~ BY' THE INSTITUTE' STAFF~ TO~ INFORM THE'~. INDUSTRY OF'~ NEWSWORTHY~ DEVElOPME'~.NTS 1776~~. K~~6TREET. N.W., WASHINGTON. D.C. 20006 - ..'~ 290+843{ ~ U~_ WAiSHII+1G'IPOIrd! , 0 D QS[:~r._}~eTJ RECENT REPORT has it that the Consumer Product Safety Commission probably wi1L appeal U.S''. District Court opinion (Newsletter 122) that it has the authority to: consider and pass a rule to ban cigarettes which yield more than 21 mil- ligrams of tar from interstate traff ic. SIDELIGHT to the activity at CPSC is provided by article in ,Wa1I,Street Journal which notes that many CPSC troubles:are not of its own making "S'ideshows" suchias the request to ~_ . .~ ban handgun ammunition (or cigarettes) as "hazardous,sub- stances" have prevented the agency from completing any safe- ty standards for any product in its two-year history, the paper said. ON CAPI~TOL HILL, House and Senate committees are struggling with leg- isl!ation to reconcile conflicts among product safety laws creating con- fusion in some minds over the CPSC authority., A House subcommittee has; approved a bill exempting tobacco from the CPSC's authority while a Sen- atE:, subcommi'ttee, chaired by Sen. Moss (D-Utah)' who is a,plantiff in the cigarette case,is:not expected to undercut~the District Court de- cision with such amExemption of authority. UNDER A HEADLINE, "I~nstead Of Cigarettes, Let"s Ban A Few Agencies," the Petersburg, Va., Progress-Index editorialized: ". . . the Consumer Ptoduet Safety Commission was tol,d,by a judge that it may have the authorityto block interstat'e shipment of'high=tar ciga- rettes. If the comrnission,takes~the step it'may weZZ prove,the old ad~ ag;e that what some of'our ruZers Zack in,good'.sense they have tin audac- ity. " EDITORIAL VIEWPOINT expressed by Aduertisi~ngi Age began:: "In the past'' few weeks, CPSC has refused tc,deal'mith petitions calling on it' to consider restrictions~ on liand gunammunition arrd' cigarets vith highZeveZs of' tar eontent.," It continued: "We think, Consumer Product Safety Comuniasion shouL1deal ari,thh both issues and, Zet Con- gress and, the courts db as, they, 'liresh: " The conclusion: "It would be far better for cigaret advertisers to have a Zimi't put on,tar than , face an,anti-tobaceo move- ment.that wouZd sureZy~be revitaZized by faiZure of CPSC'to accept a role in reguZa- tion 11 a ~ i ~. ~ I W ' ~ i ~ -~

r~' -2- BENNO C. SCHMIDT has been reappointed by President Ford too serve as chairman:of the President's Cancer Panel and to con- tinue to serve on the board until 1978. Schmidt, a member and chairman since 1972, had a recent speech inserted in the Congressional Record by Sen. Javits (R-N.Y.) in defense of' the national cancer program. One point made in his remarks: ": ..the Cancer Program is a vast undertaking whieh',wiZx require long-ter+n support and great patience. We are still far away from being able to puteither a date or a price tag on the ultimate conquest of cancer." ANOTHER "GRADUATE" of'National Cancer Institute has left the grantiingiagency to take over a university cancer center. Hs"s Nathaniel Berlin, director of'NCI's division of cancer biology,, appointed to head Northwestern's cancer research,operations. FURTHER PROPOSAL for additional healthieducation and preventive health services to be,provided by the federal,government (Newsletter 122) has been introduced by Sen., Mathias (R-Mdi.). Mathias says his bill would establish a new office at HEW able to identify and,develop health edu- cation programs aimed'at high-risk populationigroups as an alternativee to the proliferation of categorical health education programs. He men- tioned' smoking programs as an example. NONSMOKER ISSUE NEW HIGH (OR LOW) was hit with the introduc- tion of a smoking prohibition bill in Loui- siana. The bill states, "No person shall smoke tobacco of any k:ind inn a public place within the state." It then defines ai"publlic place" as "any place where two or more persons fromidifferent families may conr gregate" but exempts private dwellings, rental lodgings and federal buildings or installations., OTHER ACTION AROUND:COUNTRY: Texas legislature approved,a smoking ban bill whi~ch, designates the possession of' burni~ngi tobacco products or the smoking of tobacco in certain public places~as a misdemeanor punishable by a$2a0 fine. Coloraado House approved a bill declaring smoking to be a public nui- sance and banning it in certain,pubiic places including lines in which members of the public must stand to wait for ser- vices. The bil'1' now goes to the state Senate which barely killled a similar anti-smoking measure earlier in the session. The Florida House is considering a bill to direct the Dept, of General Services tolestablish and adopt rules pertaining to smoki~ngii'n public bui~Tdiings. Massachusetts House approved a bill restricti~ngi smoking, in certain publi bill is now b c pla efore ces but it carries no penalties fo the:Senate. r violations. The ® Council Bluffs ('Iowa) City Council declined to act on a,pro- C ~ posal to ban smoking,in alll public builldings. Raci~ne Count ~ (Wisc.) Board adopted aa, anti-smoking proposal to prohibit CIl smoking by spectators andiboard members during meetings. ~ Smoking will be allowed before and after,meetings and during recesses. Erie County Commission defeated a resolution to support an Ohio Senate measure prohibiting smoking in cer- iy tainipubli~c places. . `..~

-3- ASH FUND RAISING:: "Dear Friend" letters out of Boston define ASH as. "a sma11, and highly effective organization directed by John Banzhaf,,, who gave up his law practice to fight the tobacco interests„" The stated'purpose of' the drive is a"far-reaching,legali action program" and some of the things ASH wants to do are:: •"Bring about the estab'lishment of NO-S`rroking areas in,restaurants, hotels, sports arenas and other public places, and provide on-the-job prot'ection for nonsmoking empZ'oyees, •"b'l'iininate all unfair and deceptive: cigarette advertising and promo- tion. We WON on the airwaves. Now ASH must stop eancer and emphysema from being, heralded on giant bi!ZZboards,, in paperback books child'renn read; and in giveaway progrzvns. •"Make cigarette companie:s legally,liable for much of the billions of dollars of death, disabilit'y,, and destruction they,cause every year."' LETTERS have been sent by the Utah Secretary of State"s office to city and county officials, law enforcement agencies and officers directi~ngi them:to enforce the restrictions and prohibitions of updated anti- smoking law (Newsletter 109). "NO SMOKING" LAPEL PINS are now being used by San Diego in an effort to enforce its newsmoking regulations (Newsletter 114). The pins read "San Diego City Ordinance" and bear the international no-smoking sign. They are being offered to employees of'businesses accused by citizens of fai~ling to ~ obey the rules. HELP k1ANTED' AD from May 12 Advertising Age: "NonL &hoking Copywriters. Now's your chance to strike back, if you're a superwniter who is tired of'being insulted arui endangered by,inconsiderate smokers. We now have a long overdue line of Non- smokers''jewelry (lapel pins,, tie tacs, cuff Zinks; etc.). Our dispZay,and classi- fied copy needs improvement prior to large scale advertising. Burn off some frustra- ttion by morking up a couple rough drafts. If we can use yours,, name a fair price and you''ve picked up some new and exci'ting business. What's our word raorth? Wel2,, let's just say we don't blow smoke. " The ad, is signed by the Fellowship of Non-Smokers, Austin,, Texas. ANSWER TO QUESTIONidirected to the Flint,, Mich. Journal "Help Line" regarding the current evaluation oflthe cigarette smok- ing issue said,, inipart:, "This i!s how we see public sentiment swing- ing: If uoe can't get the smoker to see the danger tolhimself; at' Zeast me eamrestriat his!blind compulsion to contaminate the rest of us:," NONSMOKERS' SMOKE SCREEN: The Chicago News carried'an interesting re- action to the Harvard study pertaining to smoke inhaled by nonsmokers (Newsletter 121). The writer's personaS observation was,,"For most of my lifeti:rrre the only obj.eetion I heard from nonsmokers was the infrequent' one that fumes were being bZoi.m into t3ieir faces, a situation normaZZy corrected on,t'he inst'ant'.. But'by a curious coincidence, ever since smokers were warned of cancer, nonsmokers by the thousands have been discovering all manner of respiratory sensitivities none of' them.ever mentioned before." MEDIA,EVENT: A reporter for the Seattle Post-Intelli~gencer made a story out of going into supermarkets where smoking is now prohibited (Newsletter 119) and'you guess the rest. He states no one bothered him about his smoking during what he callis the "Great Supermarket Smoking Caper." 4 ® C ~. ~ ~ ~, `

-4'- IVIEDIA START WITHiTHE NOTI~ON that opposition to govt., regulatory proposals is per se contrary to the public interest, and you can write a heavily anecdotaT book to show thatt corporations, trade associations and their legal counsel are without re- demption.. It's been done by Mark Green,, 29, , Harvard Law graduate and Nader associate. His title, "The Other Government," and subtitle, "'The Unseen Power of'Washington Lawyers," is newly and' prominently displayed in Washington bookstore windows. It''s been excerpted by Juris Doctor, a law student magazine, and'by the Washington Post., An entire chapter is devoted to:The Tobacco Institute ("rates not far behind the gun Lobby,"), to the cigarette industry's regulatory vicissitudes and the lawyers who,have repre:sentedd it,, plus one or two who are made to seem pleased that they haven"t. The chapter averages about two factual errors per page. Those who enjoy seeing their own!or,associates' names in print (some- times misspelled) will' have to spendl$l2'.50. Publisher is Grossman, division of Viking, New York. NATLONAL ENQUIRER reported finding that 51%iof the employees on the "executive floor" at the National Cancer Institute''s headquarters are smokers, including Director Rauscher,, two assistant directors an&a deputy director. That's aihigher level than the general population. Gori,, the scientist in charge of NCI, smoking-health research, was quoted as saying, ,."They're hooked." HISTORY'OF CIGARETTE SMOKING article by a WinstoniFletcher in Campaign,, a,British weekly, says, "There can never have been a product which, caused' more people, more companies, more governments and states to be- have in more:hypocriticaI,and self-contradictory ways." Fletcher also stated: "No other product (except food) has been so universally taken and enjoy- ed'by,humanity ((as the cigarette)). There is at least a prima facie case for believing,that it probably,does some people good, some of the time. Human beings are not like lemmings. They do not, by and'Zarge, enthusiastically take to habits whzch will:destroy their species.,"' SMOKING' QUESTION, raised by the New York, News' "Inquiring Fotographer"', was, "Americans smoked a record number of cigareTs--Tast year.. Can you understand why, rshen, there is a health wz,rning printed on every pack?" Seems like the paper went to a llot of trouble to~get to the obvious--sample replies:: "Yzs, because cigaret smoking is something;peopZe enjoy." •"I continue to smoke nevertheless because I find it very pleasurable." •"&noking, seems to help them relax and soothes their nerves." • "I enjoy, smoking." AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHI was the subject of a recent Jack Anderson column. "The worTdilooks to American agriculture to help find alway to feed the mushrooming population. This should be the missioniof the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which instead devotes most of its efforts to promoting the special interests of agribusiness," said Anderson. I pa

-5- "T'ke A'RS assigns more Zab space to tobacco research; for example, than to food di:stri:butian.. The agricultural researchers are concentrating less:on tobacco heaZth hazards than on developing a:ripe Virginia beaf that nn:lL be hardier, quicker drying and more profitabZ'e for the tobaccoo companies." RESEARCH' sulits of study a SWEDISH RESEARCH TEAM (includling "twin research" specialists Cederlof & Fri~ber ) publishedire- ~ y selectedifellow- of'mortali~ty among some 55,000 ra countrymen over a ten-year period., In brief, they found elevated mor- tali.ty associated wiith smokiingi for many of the causes of death cited in, 1964 in the U.S. Surgeon Generali's advisory committee report, plus some new ones: breast cancer, cervical cancer,, alcohol psychosis & pneumonia. PHILIP BURCH,, whose running battle with,causal theorists in the letters columns of British medical journals is going in- to its fourth,ye:ar, has been visiting in the U1.S. with sci- entific colleagues of both persuasions. In a lecture, "Does Smoking Cause Lung Cancer'?'", at Michigan State University, Prof., Burch reportedly agreed with his correspondents that there is a large statistical association between smoking and d lung cancer -- but, he insisted, he cannot accept any causal theory because smoking patterns do not match changes in the disease rate. ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS indicate minute amounts of naturalily occurring radio- active substances in tobacco might play a role in causing lung cancer in smokers, HarvardlUniversity scientists reported in Science magazine.. The researchers said'they produced: lung tumors in hamsters with radio- active polonium -- found in all plant and animal tissue -- at very low, doses consistent with what a,human smoker would experience over many: years. Inia Wall Street,Journal interview, Dr:., John B. Little said that if other researchers verify the dangers of such radioac- tivity, it would be a simple,matter to filter the material out of tobacco smoke. "Many of the new filters are already doing that," he said. A MEDICAL RESEARCH:TEAM examined 908 workers employediby factories andl farms inithe Seattle, Tacoma and Portland'areas and discovered that dis- eases:suffered by three of every ten workers appeared to have been caused' by work conditions -- a three times greater incidence than cur- rent reports would indicate. The study, conducted by the University of Washington with National Institute of Occupational Safety and HeaTth, financing, reported that 25% of the work,-associated diseases were res- piratory. Ninety percent of the conditions uncovered had not been noted in either the reports of the Bureau of Labor Statistics nor in workman's compensati~on claims, the team found. HEALTH QRGAI+II ZATIOIy1S AMERICAN HEALTH, FOUNDATION president, Dr. Ernest Wynder, speaking at a cancer lecture series at the Univeristy of Pittsburgh,: •"6}noking probably causes a quart'er of a milZion excess deaths." • "Forty per cent of all male cancer deaths in the United States relate to tobacco usage."

-6- •": the more you,smoJ¢e:, the more: your risk of'cancer. Occupations and air pollution have;a minimal effect.°' •"Ekrrphysema wou2dn't exist if'it wasn''t for smoking and'tobacco."' CONN. LUNG ASSOCIATION is promoting anti-smoking efforts as part of a "spring drive to raise funds to help further programs that will pre- vent and control emphysema and other chronic lung diseases." SMOKING PREVENTION WORK'SHOP'for teachers, school administra- tors, health professionals and others interested in develop- ing smoking health programs was presentediby the Kansas Lung Association in,Topeka. L PEOPLE ( LESS THAN'TWO YEARS AGO, Robert H. Moser be- came editor of'the:Journal of the American Medical Assn. He said that what doctors really need to know is "finite" and'"tractable," and'expressed hope that when the doctor "stokes up his briar" for evening reading he would reach for JAMA first. He promised no: "polemics". Last December he wrote &polemicaL attack on to:bacco.. Early this month UPI reported he had'"resigned" in a "dispute" over a, reduction in pages in AMA publications. NEW YORK TIMES speculated that TI's Jack Mills might head President Ford's 1976 campaign and quoted,MilT's reaction: "I'm in the scone position Mel Laird is in. I have a contract:raith the Tobacco Institute t'hat' I intend to ful'fiZZ." SINGING STAR Vikki Carr appointed National Honorary Chairwoman of the 1975 CChristmas Seal Campaign by the American Lung Assn. Its release goes right to one of its favorite subjects. "Vikki Carr's ,qenuine concern far the rights of the nonsmoker has beem given great visibiZit'y this past year as she has traveZed coast-to-eoast endorsing the American Lung,Association''s strong positi!an on the harm- ful'YieaZth,effects of'second=kcmdsmoke:, . .1" TAXES Ore on House Committee is considering &ciga- rette tax, increase to finance one or more pro- posed medical.programs. A state senator testified in support of a 4.5 cent increase to finance a cancer research and treatment project and said the increase was appropriate because of the proved connection be- tween smoking and respiratory problems. Recent action by the,Alexandria, Va. City Council raisedithe city''s tax~on a package of cigarettes from 7'to 10 cents. IP7DUSTRY OHIO ASSN. OF TOBACCO DISTRIBUTORS repor;~s ~tatures were collected on 00O si re than T0 g , ~ mo _:t~ a Cincinnati petition to protect smokers' rights and were presented ~ / y April 24' at public hearings to the city's Board of Health on ~tts pro- 1 posal to restrict smoking., ` C ~1 Gr