Tobacco Documents Online

PREPARED FOR YOUR INFORMATION BY THE INSTITUTE STAFF 17T6'aSTREET, , N.W.,., WASHINGTON,i D.C. 20006; •7N6b6R71' Number 120 April 8, 1975 LEGISLATIVE AND:REGULATORY ACTIVITIES: OKLA:- HOMA'now has a new no-smoke law on the'books with violations drawing fiines~of:$10 to $100. The measure is based on. Arizona law. Los~Angeles City Council' approved restricted smoking in buildings avaiilabie for public use which would become',effective 150 days after mayor's expected approval. NONSMOKER I S'SUE A revamped proposal to ban smoking in public places has been introduced in the Colorado House'. Senate kililedlan earlierr proposa'1. Illinois Senate has a proposal along the same Linee awaiting committee action. A committee of the Iowa Senate approved a bill to restrict smoking inn public places. It allows operators of public retail stores and doctors' office an option to enforce the measure or not., A,Kansas House committee'amended a Senate-passedlproposal, then approved the bill f'or consideration,. The committee struck, reference to "retail businessiestablishments"'from the public places where "no smokingi" signs are to be postedd by "appropriate officials."' Violations are punishable by fines of up to $25. Hearings have been held on a half-dozen bills by a Maryland House Cbm- miittee. Minnesota House passed and sent to Senate'a biill to segregate smokers and nonsmokers in public facilities. New Hampshire completed hearings on smoking ban bill which leaves it up tio a judge to set fine to be'imposed'i'n violation of'the ban or failure to'post no-smoke signs. Texas,Senate passed by voice vote andisent to House a bill liimiting smoking in public places. Hawaii's State Health Committee was urged by director George Yuen to approve smoking ban in public places;, Michigan Health Department held hearings on pending legislation toiprohibit smokingiin public places andlpubliic meetings;, andl, Public

Utility Commission of Pennsylvania conducted hearings per- taining to:the limitation of smoking on intrastate passen- ger vehicles., Boulder, Colo.,„ City Council voted'unaniimously to prohibit smoking on any mode of public transportation, in elevators,, any room used for a meeting pertainingito city business;, theaters, indoor auditoriums, cer- tain, classrooms, retail food establiishments and:"elsewhere." Propri- etors of eating establishments are "encouraged"' to segregate smokerss from non-smokers. The ordinance also provides for segregation of smo- kers in hospitalis and the main public library. Property of the state,, county and l'ocall school district is exempt.: Fines are not to exceed $25. NEW MEXICO House killed a bill that would have:restricted smoking inicertain~publiic places. Santa C1araiCounty, Calif. superviisors, locked in.a 2'to 2 vote with one supervisor ab- sent, decided not to regulate the us of tobacco in public places. PRESS REPORTS concerning the new and confusing San Di'ego, Calif., no- smoking ordinance (Newsletter 114) ought to teach us something. In its simplest form, the ordinance "absolutely prohibits" smoking inielevators, indoor waiting lines,, public transpor- tation,, public health care facilities, theaters and rest rooms. City officials say the law,,, considered one of the toughest in,the natiion, wiIl'eventually attain its purpose. However,, the initial! situation iis being reported to be as "murky as the air the law is intended to clear." For instance, it,is not against the law to smoke in a department store, unless you are in the store's rest room or waiting in line in the store.Ttae law permits smokingi iin certain buildiingis where fresh air circulates at a rate only understood by mechanical engiineers., Supervisor Jim Bates, former councilman who introduced the ordinance, saidl, "This Zara ~.n.Z7 not disappear from the books of the cit'y: The ci'ty,attorney said it b'est; 'With proper pubZzc information and education, better compliance can be achieved. The:city, trear surer will insert copies of the ordinance when business Zicense renewal forms are sent out in dune r rr The comment above was carried' by the San Diego Union adjacentt to a coliumn~ by the president of' the local business commission, Don Erwin, who saidl: "Can yow believe our city, ccould prohibit some- one f'rom getting a business license just because he or she didn't have a 'No Smoking' sign postedF" He noted' the city had spent $'2-0,,0000 to get the law on the books and concluded his column: "Re- member our crime rate is ZZ.2'per cent higher than it was one year ago. Do you want your police force as a crime fighter or someone who t'ries to enforce good'manners?"' A UPI, story quoted Asst. Police Chief'Michael Sgobba:: "We are t'eZling,our officers to give it the lowest priority. Unless an officer has nothing to do, he isn't going to go out and give someone a citatiom for smoking in an unauthorized area." A NEW'ORGANIZATION, calledl Texans Against Public Smoking (TAPS),, formed in Houston and plans to lobby for legislative action on segregation of'smokers and1no-smoke bans. The

-3- group also hopes to~activate other organizations like local cancer and heart assn:., chapters in their drive. MINNESOTA GROUP, A,ssociation for Non-Smokers Rights, headquartered' in Minneapolis, held a convention recently to discuss strategies for deal- ing with smokers. President Richard Cesario statedl,, "We're not t'eZ'Ziung, people to stop smoking, just to refrain: when it annoys others." The group is pushing for "the Minnesota Clear Indoor Air Act" (Newsletter 91) which would prohibit smokiing;i~n most public places and,at public meetings,, except in designated smoking areas. MAYO CLINIC set up a nine-member committee to study smoking customs and possible regulations among clinic personnel. The committee circulated a four-page questionnai~re, said that as a result "recommrendatzons for a smoking; poZicy at Mayo rail'Z' be f,ormuZated with the rights of both smokers and nonsmokers taken int'o, consideration." WASHINGTONI A PACKAGE OF LEGISLATION was announced in early March by Sen. Moss (D-Utah) as "aimed at further regulatingicigarette sales and discouraging tobacco production, adver- tising,, and use." Moss.challenged the federal tobacco program March 26' with three amendments during Senate debate on agricultural price sup- ports. The first amendment proposed termination of any quotas,, a2lotments,, supports and subsidies for the 1976 andlsub- sequent crops of tobacco. The amendment failed'by a,vote of 55 to 26. o A second' amendment called for a four-year phase-out of federal support of tobacco. The amendment failed on,a 511 to 32' roll call., o The final amendment was designed to eliminate the tobacco price support increase contained in the,bill. It was beaten 48' to 35. Folilowi~ng,disposal of Moss's measures, the Senate passed the farm bill with a provision increasing the 1975 federall price support for tobacco to 70 per cent of parity. The House version of'the bill'does not con- tain the tobacco item. A meeting betwee-n the two houses will be nec- essary to resolve the difference. A tobacco-state senator commenting on the margins of support for the tobacco program, was quoted after debate: "There is no doubt that opposition to our position is growing." AN ARTIiCLE,highlighting findings of a Dec., 1I97'4 AMA conference on re- sulits of air pollutioniresearch was placed in Congiressional Record for C for Members' attenti~oni. It,reported' such information as:. ~ ~ "Lung cancer rates have steadzZy increased'im the U:S.;, most' of'the in- crease may be attri:buted'to cigarette smoking. Even excluding smoking, C1"I C..7 habits, the incidence of lung cancer is greater in urban than in ruraZ' ' ~ areas., " ~ ~

-4!- "Recogniziizg...the fact that' cigarette smoking may be a major cause of'lung cancer„ and'a contributing factor to respiratory i'llixess„ Japan has a law that prohibits teenagers from smoking. Whether this law is enforceable is,, of course, another matter: " MEANWHILE, AMA's deputy exec.v.p. testified in Congress that air pollution is a proven health hazard. He made no reference to tobacco smoke. SELF-EXTINGUIBHING CIGARETTES, says Gori of'the National Cancer Instii- tute in recent Senate hearing, are likely to have higher tar yield and carbonimonoxide emission per cigarette.. He addpd qualification that future researchicoulld produce specific methods by which fire and health hazards of'cigarettes would,be reduced simultaneously. LABELING FOOD PRODUCTS with the percentagie of sugar they con- tain is favored by Dr. Frederick Starey, nutritionist, accord- ing to comments he made in Washington at a National Academy of Science 2-day conference on,sweeteners requested by the Food and Drug,Administration. A representative of a large sugar producer countered that the plan was "discriminatory." A scientist from,another producer said such,a regu- lation was premature because science has not establiished a,"cause-and- effect relationship between sugar and disease." Co-host FDA said itt could not require food:labels to contain sugar percentages without hardl evidence that sugar is,detrimental to health. VERBATIM ANNOUNCEMENT on a recent cross-country charter flig ht: "Federal A'viation Ageney reguZations prohibit smoking in the lavatories. A'nyone caught smoking, in the lavatory,roi'l:Z have their lav- atory priua; leges taken rn May,. " RESEARCH N.Y. ACADEMY OF SCIENCES sponsoredla conference on occupationally-relatedicancers. More than. 600 representatives of industry, government, labor unions and science heard reports implicating as cancer-causing agents more and more sub- stances used in industry. An academy spokesman said sponsorship was based partly on the: WorldiH:ealth Organizatiion's estimate that 85% of cancers are environmentally induced. A compilaion,of news reports of the 4'-day meeting gives an interesting overview of the carcinogenic hazards of the work- place, some even spreading to workers''families and neighbors of certain industrial' plants. Dr:., Edward P. Radford'of Johns Hopkins, who has been,vocallly anti- cigarette, raised an interestingi point: "By and Zarge, when you proposed' that something, in, the morkp~lace is producing cancer, the reaction you got mas:, It must be something eZse..,.smoking, or it's in the community. Ba,it it's not rahat's in the workplace. This was the commnon reaction. We are now finding that a,lot of things in the workplace can cause eancer."' POINT OF'VIEW article on industrial cancer written for the Washing ton Star noted: "Most Americans have been Zed to believe that cancer i's either of mysterious origin or of'their ovn doing,--from bad personal habit's such as smoking. While no one would exonerate

-5- eiigarettes or claimthat clean environment on or off the job raouLd'do moay,nrit7i the disease entirely; it also is clear that we have.been,sold a bill of goods. " "CANCER PORKBARREL", the conquest of cancer program voted by Congress in 1971, is coming under attack,, notes a New York:Times,edlitorial. The. Congress was stampeded,into voting lavish,fund's for cancer research by broad suggestions that,a new breakthrough had a cure, possibly, just around the corner. The illusory character of'those hopes ils now clear, the Times concludes, because "other important branches of medical re- search have had to pay a heavy price for the misguided em- phasis on a cancer cure that was not and unfortunately is not yet at hand."' The editorial said voting for cancer appropriations is a "means by which incumbent Congressmen try to induce their constituents to vote for them at the next election." . _. GUEST EDITORIiALIST, A. B. Miller, director of the Epidemiology ilDn:it at the National Cancer Institute of Canada, writes in, the Feb. Journal of the National Cancer Institute: "We have to~r'emember it may bee ass import'ant to find'out why,9'of ZO heavy smokers: do not get lung cancer as t'o identify, the Z of 10 who does. These are the sorts of'clues we sh'ouZd falZ'ow with,as much energy as our searches for factors in individuals who actuaZ'Zy develop the disease." EMPHYSEMA,: A,pilot study of 917 Long Beach, Calif.,, seventh~graders of several ethnic groups reinforces the suspicion of Lieberman and coworkers that Caucasilans:are more likely than others to have an inheritedienzyme deficiency linked with,emphysema. The City of Hope (Duarte, Ca1if.)' team reported that a reduction or absence of alpha-l-antitrypsin (AAT)1, which can be id'entifiedii~n about 5% of all Americans, appears to create especial susceptibility to the development of the lung disease,, espec- ialliy for those who smoke or are exposed1to lungiiirritants.. Holding counseling sessions whenithe deficiency is spotted,, Lieberman and'.team, explain the meaning of the inherited trait and in tests of familymem- bers of the affected youngsters so far have found that 56% of them were found to have:deficiencies. MEANWHILE, also from California, Weld'on Walker,, who twice in a year has claimed in the pages of JAMA that a decrease in age-adjusted heart disease death rates is linked to~alleg- edly fewer white males smoking (Newsletters 113 and 94), wr'ote to Medical Tribune objecting to a recent headliinee about emphysema being the fastest growing cause of death. Citing unpublished figures from the Nationali Center for Health~Statistics, Walker claims a 17% drop in age-adjusted emphysema de:athirates in five years. He makes no mention of cigarette smok:ing.. KENTUCKY'TOBACCO RESEARCH BOARD earmarked $5.7 million in state ciga- rette taxes for smoking and health research during the next fiscal year. ROBERT W. MORGAN, preventive medicine prof. at the U. of Toronto,, reportedly is giving Ontario officials an unpub- l.ished study showingiasbestos:more strongly related than smoking to larynx,cancer.

-6- THE "SMOKING DOG" hassle apparently continues unabated in U.K'. UPI re- ported that Imperial Chemical Industries Chairman Sir Jack Ca11!ard toldd a shareholders meeting that use of beagles to test non-tobacco smoking material could help cut down on 50,000 annual Britishid:eaths blamed' onn smoking. MED I A FTC annual report stirred'up some interesting editorial comments from the press: Said the Newport News, Va. Press: "As for whether any, of the moves offered' by, the: FTC would contribute much tor.ard'decreasing ci.garette!consumption, however, the proba- bility,is that there i's an irreducible minimum of people who are:Lrilling to give up smoki:.g ar.d'th'e sol'ace or pleasure they get from'it, regardless of'the dangers in- voZved.: That' is a choice they shouZ'd'be free to make and is not any of Congress'ss business."' Willingboro, N.J. County Times sai~d, "We can educate and we can warn. We cannot stop peopZe from risking harm to themselves if they choose to do so. It's a,free country, whose history (remember Prohibi- tion?) is testament to the folly of legislating;against vice." NEW'ENGLAND Journal of Medicine carried story stating, "...the aircraft industry requires 'that airline,pilots do not smoke within four to six hours before takeoff time'." A curious reader asked the editor where that information came from. The author admitted error to the editor: "My infnrmation was from several physicians....regardi!ng their advice to piZots. It is stronglysuggested and advised'that pilots do not smoke four hours before fl'ying." WASHINGTON'S new state no-smoking regulations (Newsletter 11'9) and,the problems of those who would enforce them drew this editorial comment from the Bremerton Sun;: ''The new rules take ef- fect in just about a month but in the ab'sence.of'any,power to enforce them, they're more likely to create animosity b'etween those members of the public who try, and',those smokers who would ignore their efforts."' TWO STATE LEGISLATORS in Oregon proposed'a bill to prohibit advertising of tobacco or tobacco:prod'ucts on,billboards. They wanted broader adl ban but said bill could not be applied to newspapers or magazines be- cause of interstate commerce laws. °IRONICA'LLY, the American smoker of today,would have more freedon to indulge his habit if he were: living in the Soviet Union," editorial- iizes~ the New~ Orleans Times-Picayune. "That Communist land, it is estimated, will produce 373 bil'Zion cigarettes in Z975. This adds up to more than four cigarettes a day for every man,, woman and'chi7d over there." WRITING UNDER HEADLINE',"Smoke and'Smokers Obnoxious", Wade Mann said in & Indianapolis News article, "Smokers who violat'e the rights and health of others should expect the lowest possible order of'consideration. They have an abso- Zut'e right to smoke but' that right should not in any way impinge on the right of others to breathe as pure air as possibZe.," U'.S. COFFEE ADVERTISING COUNCIL hired!ad agencies to test campaigns aimed at boosting coffee consumption among teenagers. NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE DIRECTOR'RAUSCHER andlits Division of Cancer Treatment Director DeVita appearedion CBS' Face the Nation, answeredi many questions~about prevention,: used anti-smokingiiTlustrations at every opportunity.

-7- NEW YORK:NEWS asked a Cancor Scciety spokesman about relative hazards of 120 mm cigarettes. "At the very least, smokers, are getting more carbon monoxide," he said. "Sheer guesswork," countered a spokesmanlfor The Tobacco Institute. TOBACCO INSTITUTE PRESI!DENT'KORNEGAY, quoted in Business Week: "I feel old'hands in Congress think they have gone as far as they should ((regulating tobacco)). As for nera;members,, we "ZZ have to wait and see." ANNUAL REPORT of the American Cancer Society says "ACS ran 200 "Helping Smokers Qu:it'' clin- ics im communities as pilot programs for a new goal of 1,000, clinics in 1975." "QUIT° CAMPAIGNS A,message from the Chairman and President states:, "Another area of cancer prevention,currentZy,of deep concern to the Society is the: Zink,between cigarette smoking and Zung cancer: It is estianated that 81,000 men and women, will die, of lung cancer this year. Our So- ciety, the government and other agencies in the public health field have a gx'ave responsibility to~cut down on, the shocking toZl produced' by czgarette smoking.,'"' A SAN DIEGO COUPLE filied a$!125,000 suit against Schick, Center for the Control of Smoking charging inadequate medical supervision of:the treat- ment administered. A suit by another disgruntled customer (Newsletter 118I),was filed' earlier in Seattle. - A,YAKIMA, WASH. CLINIC says you can kick the cigarette habit during your lunch hour: KICH (Kick the Idiotilc Cigarette Habit) cliinic, sponsoredlby the Washington Lung Assn., relies on a group discussion format, in a series of,seven sessions over a three-week periiodl, AMERICAN' LUNG ASSNi. challengedlTI information saying,it is an apparent effort to undermine the program of nonsmokers" rights groups to:have smoking restrictediiin public places, ALA president, Stocklen,, said nori,smokers can inhale un- safe quantities of carbon monoxide from second-hand smoke as weIll as other constituents in cigarette,smoke such as the tars. T1EW'MEXICO PUBLIC HEALTH ASSN, past president, reacting to recent visit of TI spokesman, took i~ssue with the positionn that smoking is linkedito diisease only "in correlation,, not: causatiion"' by giving the Albuquerque Jburnal' aistack of news- paper clippiings:and study reports excerpted from HEVSmoking and Health Bulletins. AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY held its annual posh-place seminar for science writers, this time in,San Diego, produced a U. of California physician, Petrakia, who was quoted'.as speculating that "substances in cigarette smoke"'may be linked',to breast cancers. HEALTH ORGAN'I'ZATIONS'. MICHIGAN Tbbacco & Candy Distributors and Vendl- ors Assn., asked over 300 state dailiy and weekly newspaper publishers and editors to present both sides of the smoking issue, let people decide what is best for themi. INDUSTRY

-8- TAXES RHODE ISLAND GOV'. NOEL recommendedia state em.- ployee pay cut.to meet an austerity bud3et. No,, said the R.I., Senate's finance committee chairman, let's see about rais- ing tobacco'and alcohol taxes instead., THREAT'TO FILIBUSTER a proposed 4-cent cigarette tax, hiike up to midnight, April 7' adjournment has produced'a compromise, it,appears'at press time, among Maryland General Assembly leaders to lower the tax rise to 2 cents. The',measure will raise $11.8 million ininew revenues. smoKinG PROHIBITED BY LAW IN DADE caUxrr AMBIGUOUS?' To say the:least.This sig:n,, reproduced as pick,- edi offa w'all in Florida, ils meant to apply only to s:uper- markets:. But that iisn' t what - it says:. SPECIAL NOTICE: 174!HE'W report, "The Health Consequences of Smok- ing," issued in typescript a yearr ago and required by law, is,now im print. It's DHEW Publication No. (CDC) 74-8704!, available as stockk no. 1723-00087' at $11i.6ai from Su, perintendent of Documents, Govt. Printing Office, Washington, 2q402'. i.R'irJimon7 Linrrz-Dis}?a#'cb '. Rlvm 7YnHarar Ba,.vt: i7lmira.mr ond PuWid:/ ' 'bla. Nan S' 6oHr. .rroL' lrre.dtnf mrd,, A..mdara t'M gtlrtM L Luaa, Ezaevtl.va Editv., Au.r.GooneimmreL' MmngiwgEimtar sar.un rausat,... editmr a( the gdirorw dba.' Fedneedayl March l;If7S Thc Tahacco War A recent : F1eCerai: Trade Com- mllslon' report showing: thiat, Am 'cans smoked, e cig>1rH- teartNaneverlastyear mmrethanfi7t~billion- Isbkely toi lrtspirte anlisnnoking erllsaders'o lo moae vigprous„ andlpmssibly, moire arrogant. efforts. Already manyof piemm are: prepaned:to~eacharnge persuasiom fonYorce In theirat" temprsto curb the':use,e of tobac:- cl Qver'the~objectiorn rof'at:least pne ofits. mem~bers, the FTC itseif declared: that the publdc shou Id be more emphaticaJly, infoemed of' ®e potential dangers of smoking. Inn additioni to recommending•tronger wartuing labele.os paekages of cigaretless and :" li2t le. etgpn," tbe. FTC advmcated: an. aggressive gorvernmenrcampaigqt to:stressthk risks inr+olved':in the use of tobacc.o.Hone. and more states.ares enactinglaws~g prohibilingor restricting smoking im a growing', eummer or, rtlace:„and m an Wles violatnrs.faeemepossi~bility spending'a year In jald. This, In: crMibly, is a mmre,severe punisMmenc than the masimum~ pena0ty ,[hat some eta'~tes', includ:ing~ ;Yfrginia; have establi6hed: for the f/istortfenseoldrunkdriving:.A'biil. pirohibiaing^noc: restricting but proAibitixt, - smoking on sir planeshas been.introdu¢ed imthe House of Repnes-neatives: ls shorti whsl b'rganiu'~.a~.move-'. ment tmo discuurage. smoki'ng seems to be evolving into:an allouu negpinsttob'acco.Antlulisawert5atiavoEVesahe.unw6rranled:us0'oi emmentpawertoimppse[benRfsonal hea~lthlstandavds.otone. gsoup . or cil'uZem: uppn i another' group- Reasumable~smoking reelrlc+ti.nsdesigqediluprotecttherigpfsor nonsrnokersare.justifiable and . tqem desirable. For, bealtas and'' aafltyreasons:smokingahouIdb'e . peohlbited orf restricted Itn'some'o areas.. Certadnly,smokers donnr hieve, an imnntnlified r1gMt to pufl awayas Ihey please.ilACOm- pletedisregardforthemmfontand srell-being ot' otIDers.. But it If b'ecomimg imcreasimgpy clear that. for many foes ot tohnaco, lbe teal mission is not tm.pmtlCt the - smoker from, the smokerbut'.to protect the smoker rrom~ himself. NmlhGng less's thian atota4 ban against cigarettes wilil ple>gsee tIDese zeabls< Those who'.o pvsue: this oblec t9ve are guility; u( cnune, of wiolatkog the rig,ECS'~of"people.who wish tmsmokecigarettes.: Yes, believe tt or not, the smoker does hkvesoml righ'ts. Solongas be thiestem ooly humself, he should be free'to enjoyi bds, hablt..Most smokers are In"teilligmrenoughl tmkmw that thill run ceruin risksin using tobil just as rheykrww'theyy r7sk'their IIOes- everytime, they get into an aulomobile, board an nieplanNOr go ski,ing: But if they elect to- tlnue.slsakiag in spjteo6 those rLSks, tltai is meirbLLsiness.:There I..ne mare.iwutl'catYwo fon efforuto prohibiA srnoking:.on grouods that tobacco Is polentially damag-l ing to an ipdividuai's Irealub than there', wmuAd!be. lon cfforts . to pnohfbitovereatipg on to.reqtnre aa indiOiAUa1~ tm e:ercisr~da'ily on geounds thal suah measmes would'd bebemeticial. Nor sboulti the gpvernment . adopt:lh sugg stion of some antlsmokezs:.and: emb'ark upon costly.progra msss desi gned . to show . tubacco.users howto break thetrhabir. R"e agree:with'FTC'.melnher Mayo J. Thompson. wlw.dissemed fromffie genry'srecentmalorityepprt, that it isnot Itn.guvero- il'sbusi'nesa too endow people wimi the "will"ro stop,smok/ng. There is an effective way to.break this habili and anyooe who is:.lrul). determined: to iquEt smnking.ran use.it.ll is c211ed'YUldturkey_"No costly gPvernrmeatal pnogram. su05idirrd by the laapayers, ls'rd quired to show bow it ~wortcs..