Tobacco Documents Online

I:nstitu!te Newsletter PR".EPARED~ BY' THE' INSTITUTE~. STAFF~ TO~. INFORM'~ I THE INDUSTRY~ OF~ NEW'~SWORTHY' DEMELOPMENTS'~. Number 122 May 6, 1975 WASH I NGTOIY U.S. DI~STRICT COURT in D.C., ruled'that the Con- sumer Product Safety Commission has the author- ity to consider and pass alrule',that wou:ldlban cigarettes which yield more than 21 milligrams of tar fromiinterstate commerce. The decision arose from a suit against CPSC filled1by the Amer- ican Public Health,Assn. and Sen., Moss (D-Utah) who had peti- tioned the agency earlier for such a rule (Newsletters 9'9:,, 105). A CPSC decision in July statedlit had no jurisdiction over tabacco based on the Consumer Product Safety Act of 197'2'.. The matter was:then taken'to federal court. Thie,judge, Oliver Gaschy stated the commission'was responsible for en- forcing several acts and his opinion statesc "One of these' is the FederaZ Hazardous Substances'Act, which jurisdiction and authority was transferred to the com- misstion from the'Secret'ary of HeaZth, Education and:WeZfare by Congress in Z973:." (!Thi~s is same law another judge'cited in aidecision which wouldiallow j' __the'CPSC'to ban, handgun bulllets as "hazardbus substances.") Gasch ruled' t against a government-tobacco company motion,to dismilss the court case.. Afterward, APHA andlMoss asked him to order the CPSC to take up their petition and that's where the matter stands~. Richard Simpson, CPSC chairman, said amendments to the act are pending iniCongress which would' remove the'commission's jurisdiction over cigarettes and ammunition and: noted:: "'...I wouldiprefer that the Congress act."' Cigarette companies„ as intervenors in this case, and the Dept. of Justice', which,d'e- fended,CPSC in it, were considering questions of appeal., PHENOMENAL PROGRESS is being made in the fight against cancer and as: proof Rep. Daniel Flood (D-Pa.) said alll you have to do is read a speech by Dr. Rosemond--president of ACS--to realize it. The speech, placed' in the Congressional Record by Flood, contains such "facts" as: s "How much are we wiZZing to, change our environment7' This questionn brings us to cigarette smoking, amply proved by Hcumnond; Horn; Wynder,

-2- Doll, Piraymma, and others to:be the chief cause of the rise of Zung cancer„ and a maj'or causal factor in circulat'ory disease and emphy- sema. " ."In environmental cancer we will see wider acceptance by workers and management of'protectiiae measures against'the industrial carcinogens now known and others that surely wiZl'be found. What about eigarettes, the major carcinogenic threat of our modern world?" Flood, a House Appropriations subcommittee chairman, credits Rosemond with pulling together data that proves positively that Congress has been wise in supporting the war ag;ainst cancer. SEN. KENNEDY (D-Mass.) and!Rep. Carter (R-Ky.) introduced identical bills to set up new agencies to tell Americans how to take.care of their health. In separate:introductory speeches, in part with identical' phrasing, Kennedy referred to accidents, alcoholism, delinquency, deprivation, parent neglect, loneliness, occupational boredom and suicide as "epidemics" which might be dealt with by the new agencies., Carter talked about "self-imposed risks" which he said cause accidents, heart and respiratory disease, lung cancer andd suicide. Neither made a specific reference to smoking. The new agencies--one in the government and the other a public corpor- ation--would'be responsible for indoctrinating the public with,Uncle Sam's officiali health care instructions., A PROPOSED AMENDMENT being circulated in~Congress by somee manufacturers of:upholsteredlfurniture recently drew,the at- tention of Rep. Walter Jones (D-N'.C.,). The congressman ob- served it,was desi~gned to eliminate the manufacturers" re- sponsilbili~ity for cooperating in establishiingi reasonabllefliam- mabililty standards as welh as trying,to filndi"a scapegoat" in the tobacco industry., He asserted the mattress industry was an excellent example for them.to follow. He said they cooperated with the Consumer Product Safety Com- mission without pleading that government look beyond' their product for the."causes" of fires. He urged the furniture manufacturers to adopt the same position and' get about the business of not obstructing reguTa- tion in the public interest. OPPOSING VIEWS by Reps. Broomfieldl (R-Mich.) and Perkins (D-Ky.,), on whether the tobacco price program should be abol- ished is presented in the May American Legion Magazine. "Yes"' says Broomfield citing, ":..no clearer excunple of confl'icting govern- mental poZicy~than the: federal programs relating to tobacco and'its uses"' "No" says Perkins noting "The An+erican tobacco farmer produces a crop which generates millions and millions of dollars of'revenues for national,, state and local goverrvnents, as wela, as millions of dollars of ineome for workers and'businesses.," Both pursue traditional lines of arguments and Perkins' closing comment --j'ust above the readprs' response coupon-states: "'..abo:lishing the support price would'destroy the tobacco farming in- dustry, driving thousands of smaller farmers out of'business and int'o

_F -3- cities looking for jobs that don't exist. That should not happen to a program which isn't costing the taxpayer a penny."' NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEAL'DH STATISTICS reported March;21 that deaths from major lung diseases,, excluding cancer, reached an all-time high in 1973. UPI wire said:: "Two of the diseases in this group have!been associ- ated with cigarette smoking;since the first U.S. Surgeon General's smoking~report which said: 'Cigarette smoking is the most important of the causes of'chronic bron- chitis in the United States and increases the risk of dying from chronic bronchitis arut emphysema.:''" .. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIQNS:, Dr. Theodore Cooper, former direc- tor of National Heart and Lung Institute, selected to become Assistant Secretary for Health at HEW, and Dr. Donald'S. Fredrick:son,, president of the Insti~tute of Medi~cine of-the. National Academy of Sciences, chosen for director of NIlH,.. An interesting comment by Fredrickson in the April issue of'SCIENCE: "Our suecess:in,p he.past,in deaZing with infectious diseases has made thzngs Zoo7t deceptively easys,l Now we are in a new era, one of chronic diseases that may not lend themselves as easily to molecular solutions., They are diseases in,rshtich genet'- ics and environment and nutrition play, a role." others,, Examples:: AMERICAN HEALTH FOUNDATION scientists (Schmeltz, Hoffmann, Wynder)', published in Preventive Medi- ciine a 17-page revi~ew,of the li~terature on "The Influence of Tobacco Smoke on Indoor Atmospheres." Inimany ways, they stated conclusions putting themselves at odds with,American LungiAssn., ASH,, GASP and RESEARCH °:,..t.n our view, no difinite conclusions have yet been arrived at." •':..:ve know of no data suggesting,that passive inhalation of ciga- rette smoke increases the risk of developing lung cancer." .. "Whether a significant health problem exists for those who spend'a great deal of time indoors, be it in offices, bus or train terminals, airports, theaters, sports arenas, other public buildings, and par- ticuZarl'y submarines wh'ere up to 80% 1 of'the crew may smoke is a key ,epidemiOZog;ica ZgicaZ question. ";. , - -.... . „_ •"Its (ni!cotine''s)'significance in tobacco-related diseases is stiZl open, to question.;"' ..the extent' of'adverse: health effects i!n humans due to passive smoking, has not yet been firmZ'y estabZished.," •"Nonsmokers passively inhale nicotine. ., The significance of'this exposure wit3i, regard to health, is not knorm. "' •'rAdditional studies are needed to establish whether passive inhalati!on of ciganette smoke represents a si!gnificant health,risk'.,..:" r"...it' appears that passive: inhalation of tobacco smoke by nonsmokers, or smokers does not increase their risk for chronic,iZlnesses such as, cancer of the respiratory tract, emphysema, or cardiovascular disease."

-4- FROM PAPERS GIVEN two months ago at the American:Cancer Society's an- nual seminar for science writers:: ~ Ehstrom, who has studied cancer rates~(he reports them~ much lower) among abstentious M'ormons: "OnZy, one large pros- pective study of cancer;, Z'ookin.g at factors other than smoking, has ever been conducted.. That was the: American Cancer Society study of' volunteers from 251states; the results of which are still ZargeZy un- pubZi'shed., Phis hardly,seems like an cunount of effort which roiZl. lead to a speedy understanding of the etioZ'ogical fact'ors invoZved in the development and prevent'ion of cancer." . Rosemond, ACS presidlent: "The chief cause:of Zung, cancer is flagrantly advertised on billboards, in magazines, and newspapers." (In the same speech:,, Rosemond reported' without connecting the two that bladder cancer in females has declined, and that smoking among females is up. He did not mention thee reportedistatistical link between smoking and bladder can- cer.)' .He also called,cigarettes "the major ca:rcinogenic,.t threat of our modern,world." NATIONAL CANCER INSTI~TUTE nationwide survdy of cancer death rates be- tween 1950 and 1969 discovered:. High rates of lung cancer were found'along the Gulf Coast fromiTexas to Florida, with,the heaviest concentration in Louisiana. Lung cancer mortality was also excessive in a belt of counties on the southeast Atlantic Coast, northern New Jersey, New,York City, and aliong the Hudson River., NONSMOKER ISSUE KANSAS adopted a law which would permit public bodies to ban smoking in public places. The much-amended billl became law without the governor's signature and pro- vides that the presiding officer or person in charge of public prem- ises may post a no-smoking signimaking smokers liable for a$,25 fine. The law specifies that the no-smoking ban will not apply to areas des- ignated'by'the person in control of'the premises to be "smoking areas."' Public places are defined as anywhere'that public business is,conducted' by state and local units of government and their subdivisions, elevators, indoor theaters, libraries:, art mu- seums, concert halls, waiting rooms of'doctors andidenti~sts,, medical facilities and!pubIic buses. The governor commented:: "I cannot affix my signature to a proposal which I feeZl is an empty gesture fraught rsith LegaZ'questions and administrative difficuZti'es.. At' the same time,, a veto of this proposal could be misconstrued'as a suggestion onn my,part that' the eommon rules of'courtesy should not be observed and that a probZem does not in fact exist." IN OTHER ACTION: Indiana~'s limited public smokingiban~bill. (Newsletter 118) died withithe adjournment of legislature. New Hampshire House defeated smoking ban bill (Newsletter 120) which would have limited smokiing,in places of'public assembly,, including restaurants, to designated areas.

-5- New York legislature passedilaw,to reduce NYC Board~of Health smoki~ng ban violation penalties (Newsletter 104). The state says maximum $50 fine and,15 days imprisonment enoughfor a simple violation. The board had pegged the penalties at a maximum $1,;0001fine and one year imprisonment. Rhode Lsland conducted'hearings on three bills pertaining to the prohibi- tion of smoking in certain publi;c places. A NATIONAL RESTAURANT'ASSN., publication reported'resullts of a poll of' 3,192 persons who were shown 22 different reasons why diners might se- lect a restaurant. Having "a no smoking section" came out so far down the list of preferences that the publication said,, "While the legislative intentions" to require such sections "are no doubt noble, it would also seem that consumers are not q4i.te as concerned about this issue as some would have us be- lieve." Even "a free second cup of coffee" ranked higher. TWO RESTAURANTS in Seattle kept track of'requests for seat- ing in posted no-smoking areas during March., One had 23 re- quests out of.17,4'21 customers served'in.that period;; the other had!21 out of 9,389., MEANWHILE some papers are carrying public service stories in cooperationn with the Mass. ALA to determine local pubLic interest in restaurant non- smoking sections., Readers are asked to fill out and forward a printed survey form. "SHOCK' STATISTICS',," states an editorial from , the London Daily Telegraph, now being advanced by the anti-smoking propagandists, need perspective. "If smokers cost the: nation 50 milli~on (pounds),, they contributed to its revenues in 1973-74 well over 1,000 (million pound's). They pay for about one third of the whole National Health Service."' Other points rai'sed: mEDIA. Generally, smokers bear their "heroic" contribution to the revenue:patientIy. They do not expect to be treated as "en- emies of society;" How many homes havs been wrecked~by the smell of smoke in the curtains? But smokers, along with,the "less fanatical non-smokers,"' must be disturbed by present trendis.: The yNHS has assumed'a,duty of looking after all our ills at the tax- payer's expense., Compulsory crash hellmets, the cLamour for compulsory seat belts, the vendetta against smoking is the thin edge of the wedge. "What next - holy wars against' sweets and'soft drinks,, against carbohyd'rat'es and ani- mal fats, against mechanical transport and li;'fts.,..2 °Our liberties are best pre- served'by those who always bear in mind the American adage - there ain't no free lunch. " h HAD TO HAPPEN (or was it j,ust bad reporting?):, San D2ego. Union reported announcement of discovery of "a new disease" Q ®' at aiCalif. Lung,Assn. very excited about,the meeting. disease." A spokesman said,"we are It's called "smalll air- ways disease." The paper saidi"victims are invariably ciga- rette smokers." ~ VOGUE quotedlDr.Irvine Page as sayin g smoking is the highest risk fac- tor:"threatening your vital circulato ry system."'...Harper's,Bazaar calls Q ~ `" `-~

-6- Ernest (sic) Wynder "the man who~did the most in linking cigarettes to lung cancer".,..Same,magazine says "heavy smok,ers have more wrinkles" ...Seventeen reports that a 1S-year-old'New Yorker "uses cigarette ex,- tracts to induce cancer in fruit flies." FELLOW WRITES in the Indianapolis Star that he felt,woozy, took, an unwilling ambulance ride, spent two days in,amin- tensive care unit, was diagnosed with,"acute gastro,enteritis," relieved of $522 and' sent home with advice to "1!ay off booze, quit smoking, avoid cholesterol and eat,no sweets." He said "this seemed' soundiadvice for a man of my age, since I had' read it in Reader"s Digest countless times." M'cCA'LL'S_ joins a number of magazines hitting smoking in the month of April., In its "Monthly Newsletter For Women" : "A woman between the ages of 55 and:6S who, has smoked a pack of'cigarettes or more a day, for 20 years or longer, inhaZes deepZy and started,smoking before the age of 20 is five to ten times like- lier to die of lung cancer thcm,her nonsmoking twin sister." ED3TOR RPiYMOND HEADLEE,, M.Di., telTs Wisconsin MedicaT Journal readers that antismoking forces have been barking up some wrong trees. He calls on physicians to:return to trying to understand patients, rej'ectingi"pharmacological Calvinism ...belief in salvation by abstinence," "the dire consequences system...movies of:a lung cancer operation," and criticism of'persons who won't "'stop their "fiTthy habit."" LONG PIECE IN STUDENT LAWYER',, aimagazine published by the American Bar Association's law student d'ivision, argiues for smoking restrictions., It cites precedents, of a sort:: "Vaccination and fIuoridation."' Au~ thor is'David' Martin, the magazine"s editor. Its circulation is over 2'3',000. : _. JAMA finally printed Tobacco Institute:'s response to its blast last December (Newsletter 113) against govt., tobacco programs. Reason for the delay was obvious: Weldon Walker,, M.D., author of the,originall, error-filled JAMA piece, need- edltime to prepare a labored rebuttal to~the rebuttal. JAMA ran it, too. LETTER TO1LANCET suggests makinginicotine inlinhalablie aerosol'' sprays available to those wiishing to stop smoking to spare themifrom~the as- serted toxicity of tars and carbon monoxide. NEWSWEEK reported introduction of 1110-12-0 mm cigarettes, as- summed that their purpose is to expand the overall market: "Sorvre tobacco men worry that if the long cigarettes do sell well, they may succeed only at the expense of shorter cigarettes." "PROHIBITION'taught us that it is hard for the government to stop peopZ'e from using something that will harm them~ or that it thinks will harm them, or to stop others from making, or selling such, products;" according to: the Tacoma, News-Tribune. But its editorial coneludes,, "That doesn,'t mean the government should subsi- dize our folZy,or those who cater to it." CBS RADIO NETWORK'S:"Report on Medicine" gave American Lung Assn. President Stocklen four straight days to rebut TI's "True? False2' Tobacco Facts." But,in the process,, TI views got substantial,coverage.,

-7- UPI WIRE: "A' national research council panel of scientist has raised the possibi'Z- i'ty that nickel in tobacco may be a cancer-causing agent' in cigarettes:," AP said: "A National Academy of Sciences report' says nickel in,the atmosphere is b'ecoming an increasing, environmentaZ contcmrinant which shoul'd' be uiewed' with caution. " The AP report went on to say the metal may increase the risk,of cancer, espec- ially among city dwellers and tobacco smokers. TAXE S'. SPECIAL SESSION starts May 12'for the Maryland General Assembly. Governor,Mand~ell announced he will veto a new revenue measure partly based on a 2-cent increase per pack of cigarettes:and willl support a 4-cent rise. Opponents of the cigarette tax increase filibustered the regular session into settling for the 2-cent increase and are promisiingimore o:f the same in the spe- cial session. SMOKERS are in poor repute,these days, comments the Reno Gazette, but a proposall to saddle them1with the cost of min- idome sports complexes in Washoe and Clark Counties (Nev.)' seems unfair., LETTER TO THE EDITOR' of the New London R~Z: "The peddlers of poison -ciga- rette merchants--like the heroin pushers show lzttZe concern for the agony and suf- fering of our nicotine addicts because their sole interest, purpose and function,in life is to 'grab' a replica of George Washington an the dollar bill. Greed becZouds their thought processes. "' The writer was favoring a proposed' increase in the Connecticut cigarette tax. INDUSTRY WISCONSIN ASSN. of Tobacco & Candy Distributors told its members in a bulDeCin that "the smoker needs to become involved" in current regulatory acti^i'ty. Otherwise, "individual choice will be prohibited'by the combination of a vocal~ minority and smoker apathy." DISTRIBUTOR ORGANQiZATIiONS'in thirteen states have ord'ered thousands of reprints of the Institute's leaflet, "True? False? Tobacco Facts." TRAVELING SPOKESM'ENifrom,TI, Drath:and!Dwyer (Newsletter 114), have now Iogged'4,4'cities in 1!7 states in the past two months where they havee made one or more public or media appearances,during their stops. They have made additional "appearances"' by audio andivideo tape recordings and by telephone to broadcast mediaiin other locations. FOREIGN writer DavidlMcKie, as and the tobacco industry. What the department wants now, he writes„ is a tide of public, opinion, based on tobacco~industry's response to proposed,re- strictions on promotional activities, to sweep the industry's negotiating positi~onifromiunder, it. TOBACCO TAX INCREASE (Newsletter 1121) , was fa- vored,by U.K. Department of Health, says Lancet one attempt to increase controLs on both smoking McK'ie states: "If any serious dent is going,to be made in the eff,ectiveness of the industry's pronnotional' campaigns, a~ large chunk of'them will have to be shut down altogether."

-8!- THE'STEEP RISE in tobacco taxes occurred inia broad contex,t of deficit cutting (Newsletter 121). While the increase on cigarettes averagedl 7 pence per pack (about 1i7fi Ameriican) , there's a new wine tax, of 24p., 2p, for a pint of beer and 64!p. for a standardi bottl'e of whiiskey or gin. Virtually every other tax in the nation was raised or broadened ini coverage. FEDPLE' JOANNE M',., DUREN, two-term Wisconsin state repre- sentative,, was the subject of Chicago:Tribune feature on her legislative war on smokingi. The cigarette, according to Miss Duren, is a noxious, disease-laden menace to society which ought to be banished from the earth alongiwith pipes, cigars, ashtrays,, lighters, and some cigarette advertisements.. Begining with constituent complaints about smoke riising into the public galleries from the floors of the assembly chambers, she launched into measures to: ban smoking from all indoor theaters, schools, libraries, museums, concert halls, audi- toriums, restaurants, gyms, buses and hospiitals...reqvire ad- vertisers to run one ad condemiing;cigarettes for every two praising them...include a skull and crossbones as large as the cigarett package shown on outdoor billboards. She alsoo zeroed in on the state capitol,, demanding the governor iissue an executive order against state employees smoking.. He re- fused but did proclaim a "No Smoking Week" last January. Opponents to Miss Duren's bilils have noted her district raises ailot of tobacco to which she replies it is used exclusively for chewing too which she has no:objection at all. DR. JOHN OTTEAi, president of the Illinois Division of ACS,, proposed to 'Es board of directors the phasing out of fund- ing institutions which continue to sell tobacco products. This report, carried by the Peoria Morning Journal-Star,, quoted the doctor as sayi~ng, "ldhenever Z fZy 7,, of eourse; sit' in the last' row of the non-smoking,seation. And when:smoke fr.om some- one in the smoking section wafts my way I compZ'ain."' HEA'LTHI AMERICAN LUNG ASSNI. Chicago diirector, Dr., Whitney W'. Addington, says, "There isn't' much a doctor, can do for a patient with emphysema but if'we could reach,him ZQ or Z5 years earlier with one basic message 'Stop,Sinoking;" we might tie abl'e to prevent him from deveZop- ing this crippling dti,sease." The doctor, coincidentaTly,, was making an ap- peal for: fu'nds.. MTSCELLANY A BIILL that would ban the sale of cigarettes that db:not self-extinguish within 10 minutes ofi'lighting was introduced in the House of the Washington legislature. Author of bill said'manufacturers treat their cigarettes,to make them, burn up:to 27 minutes and: suggested'th,is constituted a fire hazard.. ##'#