Tobacco Documents Online

PREPARED FOR YOUR; INFORYATIONBYTHE INSTITUTE STAFF 17iSKSTAEET,. N.W'.,. WA'SHINOTON~ D.C:, 2D00a •Z96BN6/, Number 119 March 25, 1975 WASHINGTON BOTHiTHE'DOW-JONES News Service and Advertis- ingiAge reported that staff at the Federall Trade Commission is ready to:telll the Commission:that cigarette adver- tisers have violated provisions of 1972'consent orders which prescribe terms of display of a healthiwarning in advertisiing:. Ad'Age , said the staff denied that it was:ready to make such a move., SEN. KENNEDY (D-Mass.) together with Sens., Javits (R-N.Y.), Williams (D-N.J.),, Schweiker (2-Pa.) and Stafford (R-vt.) introduced legiislationito revise and' extend programs of the National Heart and Lung Institute and National ResearchiSer- viice Awards. Kennedy said a two-year extension would syn- chronize these two:programs with the National Cancer Act. In mater3aL submitted for the Record, one of the major goals:of:the Na- tional Heart, Blood Vessel„ Lung and Blood Program is to modi,fy the .smok,ing habits of persons...and to extend successful anti-smoking pro- gra,ms. The next day Javits, a frequent sponsor of govt. anti-cancer leg;islatiion, brought to the Senate floor a response to Daniel Greenber ''s articlie, "Cancerr~ Now, the Bad News"' (News e~er 1!15 . The article by Dr. Frank, J. Rauscher, Jr., Director of the National Cancer Instiitute, was coiincidentally entitled, "The'National Cancer Program: Now The Good News." Rauscher's rebuttal was that,the'criticism was inappropriate because the really big program has only just begun. He made two points about cigarettes--the only asserted specific cancer cause he mentioned: . With "knowledge" of'how,to prevent cancer, it takes the publlic a long time to react;, it's 11 years since the Surgeon,General"s report onismoking'„ "yet lung cancer iis now at epidemic proportions."

e_1 -2- • Since 1195'01,, "if cancers associated with smoking aree removed from the overall statistics, cancer mortality has..,.decreased for men."' SEN. HRUSKA, (R-Neb.),, for himself and GOP colleagues Curtis (R-Neb.), Fanni!n (R-Ariz. )'; and' Young (R'-N.D. ), introduced aibill to wipe out what they regard as five constitutional infringements on the broadbast media as distinguishedlform print media: 1) The "'equal time" requirement for political candidates; 2) the "fairness doctrine"'; 3) the cigarette- little cigar ad bans;, 4) required "public service time" announcements and 5) restrictions on editorializing and'candidate support. Hruska called the cigarette-liittle cigar laws~"unfazr discrimi- nation between the broadcast and print medtia„" adding that "if the Congress wants to take positiue action against this national heaZth,prob- Zem it should out'Zara the advertisting of all tobacco products on aZZ'me- dia. " Sen. Proxlniire (D-Wisc_)i previously hadlin:troduced similar legislation, but one major difference is that it would not diisturb the cigarette ad- vertising situation. REP. CARTER (R=IQy.),, a physician, introduced legislation too provide for lif'e-long,, "credit card" health insurance for all Americans with govt., back,ing.. His measure includes pro- visions for periodic physical exams~and counseling by physi- cians iin the interest of "health maiintenance.,"' Carter told the House that recently "the major public health problem had' be- come chronic diseases, now known to be caused ZargeZy by various aspeets of a new life style which',includes a medZey of excesses--food, alcohol, cigarettes, and ten- 8ion, "' . . . . .. He said one aspect of the health~counselingito be paid'for under hiis bill would include for persons 17 to 19 advice "respectzng famiZ'y pZ'anning--incZuding,genetic probZems--cigarettes„ alcohol and drugs, nutrition, exercise and'accidents." SENi. MOSS (D-Utah), who is suing the Consumer Product Safety Commission tn get a court ruling that CPSC dbes have jurisdiction to regulate cig- arettes, introduced a bill to make certain that it doesn't. In remarks to the Senate,, he said he was sponsoring the bill at CPSC's request and made no reference to hiis lawsuit. THE CANCER LETTER told its subscribers that National Cancer InstTtute has~chosen Enviro Control', Inc., a Maryland firm, as prime contractor for all NCI smoking-health researgh,. and to administer subcontracts with whatever institutions have themlor bid on them in the future. An NCI spokesman was quoted onithe scheme being more efficient because of greater "pressures to prod'uce.,..out inithe private sector."' The same issue quoted remarks by Wynder at a recent Tobacco Working Group meeting at NCI: "I wouZdn't want to go on national t'eZevi'sion and say this,, but' I:ruiZZ make a prediction. I think we will find that people who smoke 20'ciga- rettes or less a day,,, ciqare:ttes nrith Z5 miZbigrams of''tar' or Zess,, will have mini- maZ risk of cancer." He reportedly called "tar" reductions since 1950 a. "major triumph". _X ~ ~ ~ W ~ V W ~ w7 ~ - -

-3- The Letter also reviewed the program,for the Third World Con- ference on Smoking,andiHealth, scheduled for June in New York, noting that "most of the world's leading sci~entilsts in the field of smoking and health research will participate." Ac,- tually,, virtually no one listed inithe conference program is among,the leading researchers who have held open minds on the smoking controversy,, and many participants have,done no re- search in the field themselves. NCI IS DIVERTING a quarter million dollars (while scientists complain o8'research fund shortages) to pay for the Third World Conference at the Waldorf June 1-4'., Scores of,tobacco adversaries will be flown from around the world at Ui.S. taxpayers' expense. NCI signed a,$2'00,000 contract with,the American~Cancer,Society three years ago to host the conference,, upped'its ante by $b0,,000 last year too cover higher air trave]l costs. ACS agreed to chip in another $50,000 and to pay, among other_thing,s, for "''two luncheons ''and a~ cashibar reception." STATED PURPOSE of the conference "is to review the deveZopments of the past few years in,aZZ sectors of anti-smoking activity throughout the world; evaZuate what has been done and forrrruZate guideZines for future action." An unstated purpose is publicity and propaganda, as exemplified when the first conference was held in New York eight years ago and featured the late Sen. Kennedy (D-Ni.Y.) as principal speaker., MONTANA HOUSE passed.and sent to Senate a bill to require the manager of an enclosed' public 'place other than altavern toldesignate by prominent signs specific areas for smokers and,other areas for nonsmokers. Maximumifine for fai'ling to:comply: $10 a day., NbNSP10k'ER' ISSUE THE Ni.M. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT BOARD rejected a move to: ban cigarette smokiingi at its public hearings., The d'ecision, was made whenithe board was adopting guidelines, included when smoking is premissible, for hearings within the EIB's jurisdiction., IL WASHINGTON STATE Boardiof Health votedlto ban smoking in public places effective mid-April. The regulation does not apply to restaurants or bars and taverns. Areas under the auspices of the state legislature and the federal governmental buildings fall under the code. The Board stated it had1no power to enforce the regulation or to levy any fines or penalties against those who ignore the ruli~ng.. SECOND TRY:, Last year the Suffolk,County (N.Y.) Legislature voted down a smoking,prohibition bill. Now the county's board of,health is reviving what the elected officials wouldn't do and is:prepar:ing health regulations to limit or prohibitt smoking, in a variety of places., SNARL: Hennepi~n County Board chairmanisays the county will go to court to overturn ainew Minneapolis city ordinance banning smoking in govt. body meetings. Aniassistant county attorney thinks the ordinance could be illegal,and,that even social gatherings in public officials" homes

-4- could lead to $100 fines if the ordinance stands., The city attorney says the ordinance is valid and covers any gathering of two or more public officials. BOARD:OF THE NEVADA DIiVISIiON of the American Cancer Society took a significant,position on a state smoke-ban bill. While it encourages no-smoking areas in public places, it does not feel that statutes to provide for themiare enforceable. Therefore, at most, it "would'suppor a joint legislative res- olution encouraging establiishments in Nevada to set aside no- smoking areas." AMERICAN, LUNG ASSN.,,, heavily backing smoke-ban efforts across the country with its tax-exempt funds, put a new "public service," tv spot on the air. "You mind very much if they smoke," is one line from the copy., CLARA GOUINi, founder of GASP, was quoted in~the Baltimore Sun:! "We'd'li,ke t'o see the ashtray go the way of the spittoon." COMMENT BY REPORTER Lilian Thomas during an interview with TI's William Dwyer on Chicago's clear-channel statiion WCFL: "I, being a nonsmoker,, still cannot see why cigarette smoking should be outlawed. Seriously„ I' think a person has a right to do what he wants to do, and if it's smoking cigarettes, that's freedom of'choice." RESEARCH SCIENTISTS AT'NEW YORK'S Doctors Hospital andi Brooklyn VAl hospital took a new look at the re- cords and autopsies of lung cancer patients who died at the latter in- stitution 1964-1973, publishing startling conclusions in the Bulletin of the N_.Y.. Academy of Medicine: There was substantial overcertifiiaa- tiion of lung cancer as cause of death; there was in fact no increase inn the incidence:of lung,cancer during the ten years, while nationally the reported deaths had risen from~ 45:,,006 to 72,000. "This Zarge disparity,,," the re searc hers wrote, "suggests that the reported increase in Zung cancer may, have been due to a rtise: in diagnosed cases but may not necessariZy,refLect a true i:ncrease of the disease." BRITISH:MEDICAL JOURNAL, accordiingito news reports, has pre- sented a study made at John Radcliffe Hospital outside Londonn claiming cigarettes smoked by a pregnant woman substantially reduce movements of her unborn,child,that hel'p it to breathe properly at birth. AUTOM'OTIVE INFORMATION, a newsletter offered by the Motor Vehicle Manu- facturers Assn. "to present factual information, vi,ews and comments on motor-vehicle related,issues of current interest," led,its February iissue with the headline, "Smoking Called Greater Health Threat Than Air Pollution". The article, based on a nationwide healthicost anal'ysis publiished in the Journal of the Air Pollution Control Assn,., says the researchers found the 1964 Surgeon General's report "laas supportediby more evidence" than most other reports,, concluded that the "urban fac- torsP" in lung disease isn't air pollution but "greater occupational ex- posure, population,densitiy,, infections or smoking." (Best artiicle,in the newsletter: Claim that a six-day air pollution alert in the Washington, D.,C',., area was caused by decaying vegetation in the,Appalachian:M'ountains, not motor vehicleexhaust.) Q . 0~ ~ ®

-5- HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS BOARD of the Heart Assn,. of Greater Hartford (Conn.), turned down the,recommendation of its education committee to ban smoking at the organization's annual fundi ' drive kickoff and awards:dinners. Reason: The prohibition would inter- fere with the freedbm of'the 10,000 Heart Fund volunteers. A STUDY for the Massachusetts Public Health Assn., reported the New York Times, concludes that smokers cost the general public in that state more than aihalf billion dollars a year based onic:osts for fire protection, medical care and the lost time of smokers due to illness. The "research"' was by the New England Region of ASH, which said it is a compilation,of "several past studies of the additional costs borne by the general public as a result of the cigarette habit." . ME D I', A, JAMA KNOCKED DOWN studies suggesting Vitamin C prevents colds, in part because in many cases "the evaliuatiion depended'on the patients' own reports." Well,, smoking- health studies db;, too, when i~t comes to smokiing;histories--and a1sub- stantial number are even second-hand,, provided by relatives or acquaint- ences.: AN ASH ACTIVIST wrote New Engliand Journal of Medicine seekiingi medical help iin proving a"hypothesisP' ASH developed as a re- sult of questilonnai'res sent to nonsmokers: That there's a, 'syndrome of severe sensitivity to:smoke" whose symntoms in- clude memory loss, lightheadedness, concentration d'ifficulty,, personality depression,, double vision and short balckouts which could make driving and piloting, "for instance, ex- tremely dangerous," and could account for "a proportion" off highway and air accidents. SYNDICATED COLUMNIST JAMES Ji. KILPATRI~CK reviewed the new,Federal Trade Commission report (Newsletter 118;):, concluding that it represents "'zeal- otry and! does the FTC no credit"'. He wrote that "on the hoity-toity theory that' Papa Knows Best, the government ((has)) embarked on a:crusade against the vile, unhealthy,habit." THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ediitorialized„ "The Federal Trade Commission is huffingiand puf,fingibecause millions of Ameri- cans just absolutely refuse to stop puffing on cigarets,, de- spite the Surgeon General's warning now displayed' on every pack." The editorial concluded, "If Congress wants to make the warning scarier i't's OK with,us,, but at some point we hope the FTC viZl'accept the notion that freedom eon- sists of making some choices and distinct'ions,, and even some mistakes, without t'h'ee benevolent guidance of'the government'." TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT expressed a similar view: "You would think C w the bureaucrats had Zearned something by now. But they haven''t. They continue trying to mou?d'our ltives by, insisting that we do what they think is: best for us. " CJl W ~ ANiEDITORIAL inithe Topeka, Kan,., State Journal suggests that increased ~ concern of smokers about others' feellings is a better solution than leg- ~. islation to ban smoking i~n public places.

-6- THE LIGHTER SIDE - Young comedian Kipp Addata appeared on NBC-TV's "To- night Show" with a monologue on~smokingi. He identified himsel!f as a "member of'a group that's now very fashionable to put down. We're calZed'eigarette smokerss"' Addata said: "All smokers are paranoid...It' all started when they, put those little signs on our packs of'cigaret:tes. The first one was easy to take. Remember?' "Caution: The Surgeon GeneraZ has deter+nined'that cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health.' About a year later they changed it. It got a lot stronger. 'Warningr The Surgeon GeneraZ has determined'that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.' Wowl: What's it going to be Zike next' year? 'BuLletin:, The Surgeon General says--and this is the last time he's going to say tit--anyone caught smoking,nrill be shot.' I'd love to be at that execution. I wonder what the last request rvouZd'be." Addata adlded, "Everywhere you go they hassle you about smoking. At airport check-in counters: 'Yes, sir,, would you like the smoking sec- tion, or do you want to sit inside the plane. "" TAX E s A 4-CENT TAX INCREASE per pack of cigarettes is being considered by the Maryland Senate. The increase,, limited to two year's wouTdlprovide stop-gap revenue,to be distributed on a per-capita basis to county governments. A House committee put, fortYi, another bill increasing the tax, from16 cents to 8.5'cents to provide tax relief for the el- derly. The state administration, deeply enmeshedlin revenue legislation, has indicated it would go along with a 4-cent-a-pack, increase but had its own ideas regarding the use of the money to assist counties in finan- ciia1 difficulties. INDUSTRY TOSACCO:SITUATION, USDA publication,, says ciga- rette prodluction declined 1% last year, con- sumption increased'2'%, andlper capita consumption remained the same (;208' packs),., EXPORTS of unmanufacturered leaf tobacco and tobacco pro- duct s,, "made a positive net cont'ribution to the U.S. balance of pay- ments of nearZy,$2 billion in calendar Z9?4," according to USDA"s March:Foreign Agriculture Circular. FORE IiGN SIMONE VEY, Minister of Health in France, launched a no-smoking,campaign thiis month. Madame Vey said' the campaign wauldibe largely an informational one, telliingi smokers exactly how they're damaging their health. The Miniister als carrying any'hea not been very ef o said she lthiwarning fective in doubted F , maintai the Unite rench cig ning such dl States. arettes w warnings ould be have ~e * +~ ~ LATEINEWS: Sen. Perc y (R-Iill.), recently proposed doubling the federal ~ excise tax oncigiaret tes because he considers smoking,a "luxury." Last ~ week he tri~ed to amen d'the Tax R eduction Act of 19 75 (H!.R.2 166) withithis proposal. However, f ollowing a cloture v ote Frids y afterno on, the Senate droppedlth e amendment as nongermane. ..7 ###