Tobacco Documents Online

n stiitiuite Newrsl etter PREPAREDFOR YOUR INFORMATION BY'THEINSTITUTE STAFF 1778' N. STREET, N.W.,, WASHINGTON, D.C: 200061 •' 256-8M34. WASHINGTON Number 109 October 29, 1974 "fPRESIDENT FORD," reported UPI,, ". . expressed in-' terest' in the possibiZity'of reguZating,by~Zaw the tar' and.nicotine content of cigarettes," after studying the 197'4 National Cancer Advisory Board annuali report that asked the govt. to regulate "'t"-n con- tent in order to provide consumers with "safer" cig;arettes., Here is the' news release the White House made available after Ford announced he wrote N'CAB Chairman Rhoadis,to comment:. [DRI/DgDIA12RBLPAgEaC1DIDER10> 19~.74, Of61M'..of'tne Mhite:Nouse Pressi Sa.eretary ------------------------------------------------------ - RBIWBITC HOOS~E 2E1R OI'N LCRER fRON.l'NE:P~R6SmEET[' TO DN'. .IONATNAN' L. RHOMJS'.. CHAIAlWN'. .NlIDNAZ.CANCBB.ADVISORYBOARDi 4 OetoEer 181.197e. Deer Dr...Fhoads, . 'fEave cxl.ed, aed reelhnied'.a pt.ellmlmi[y copy.of the 1974 snrwal. report.of'tM Nstlonal.Cancer Mvlaory'Board. In..e,.eral. PIaces. We.poard's repe'.rtre o~mnend, federa~l.cegulhmiomaf'~l tlb.tar.e arvd.nLLwtlm:contenRof.clgenttesi. ]Te.report doesi nml..,nm,wver., pFavideisn a mcnf. oftne scien'tiflb evidence, atlhandlrnlen.snovl4; pr.ovdCretne.bauie.tor sucn regwlatSOni. In ortler.'that' aill1 cona.rned'.saybe folly Sntamed, I rould llkae to, rrquest',tlrat the NetloneL. Cancer..Advl.orYB'eard [ . ezlsting selentlfic', evidenceom urgent be'al..and provldewn.e ev ..1 tntha l e of'f eheeasenc to h1eN ther.eesletsa sclentlfl.c.beaas forNnsponsible.regylationof.e14arettenr t.[eeegnLre.cTat all quesRLans.of regnla2iGnn aruy'invo.lvei wrtalnsmumt.o'.f'.r neblla dieeqreement e ~.ell.a ehei a cisr- of'aomrvdJwdgnent., Nevairthel.eer. it, alYi critlcally' laqwrtatut'that.c r Judgmnca be s wndlYbesed'. so, tnat: ve m'aY, procsed vlthtbeugreatest,awnt of'~visdom: rtemr': ean owe'. on.the Neelbnal.aencerAdvLeorq,Bonrdi toprovide. •Stn sc1eMlYic. sdvLce an ttule ibportsnt.met of'pubilcf r I vould qreatly appreici.te the Board~e e an.es.ment byOaeeaGer 1, 1574. . Bincerely, . GBRMD R, fORD. TI issued a prompt state- ment saying that it "feels that any,move which might lead to an objective review of the scientific evidence is a step in the right direction." A Senior TI staff member was in Raleighlwhen the', news broke and'told the'. News & Observer inlan- swer to questions that The Institute would "'un- questionabl!y" oppose any federal moves to regu- late "t"'-n content of cigarettes and said that "the tobacco industry today provides smokers with a very, L'arge range of pro- dzict's in terms of' tar and nicotine content. . .We know of no evidence'that' woul'd support the state- ment that Xamount' of tar is safe and Y'amount is unsafe. " I FJ

-z- THE'REPORT ITSELF said that "cigarette smoking remains the most remediable cause of cancer deaths in the UnitediStates-- andlthe one which seems hardest to change."' It saidithat while there iis nolway to declare any cigarette safe, "it should be possible to:deny those cigarettes which are obvi'- ously high in,nicotine and' tar access to interstate commerce and thereby discourage their manufacture." The report called for action by Congress to both regulate "t"-n content and to ban all cigarette advertising. A FEW DAYS~LATER President Ford transmitted the'NCAB report,to Congress and said: "In several~:instances;, the Board raises major poZicy, issues, and makes recommrendations to the Congress. For esampZe„ the Board's report urges Federal regu- lation of cigarettes. It shouZd be pointed'out that there:i!s considerable di'sputee as to whether~there exists adequate scientific evidence on which to base safe levels of tar'and nicotine under responsible reguZatoru action (('emp hasis added):) . Inn response to the Board's concern,, I have asked the NationaZ Cancer Advisory Board to provide me with an assessment of the scientific evidence that would provide a,basis for responsibZ'e Federal regulation of cigarettes. W1fil'e I think it is important for the Cbngress to have the benefit of the Board's,views, those views must necessarily be consi'dered ai,ong rvi'th, other diverse and'responsible points of' viea:" Meanwhile, the New York Times reported that "the President di!sassociat'ed himself from'the potentialZy controversial ((NCAB))''pro- posa l. " rnei w nire atoose Oatobcr 13, 1974 'fhL d 1rv ( rth : potua lo ywr 1Nter: regPrdtng e r rxportprepared Ey.tha H.LLo.ul'Clnr:ng!`ovnei for: SrtwklAg, amd' "ea1th~and,5'ecretaryyndidbcrger"..Heva eniNederat.reryuae:w o" tlgjre".,tngr.ale/d.~ A. Secr:rfnry, W einherger haei (ndic:tad, th.i .fe.:. expve...d in hL. ~.er.n,mi<t.l le"er to th.Cnnglr...nerahieiavn~: ehey.ere eot~ lrtmded prare eh iAdmvn:arat.on'a He.: . n a.i.ab n y.nttrgi.tahr. acttus braryfrepeddrad gy3to !' igare"e... Lt4ct„ Ma.A~dMiu.:arattao Ive. notpropa.ed. t.g:.umm~~ on tbs, ..bl:n. teew.wam/.~w<m,.ast.aetpwmrw. " Homnbl. Jl.e. He4n. Undtrd 9at.a.5ae.n i t•a.hin~gtp,,,IY.iC'. tOS1C' EARLIER, Sen. Helms (R-N.C.,), had queried the President regarding HEW,Sec_ Weinberger's pro- posal last summer that HE'r be deliegotediauthor- ity by Congress to regulate "t"-n content. (The proposal! was in a letter to Congress trans-' mittingiHEW's annual report to that body onn smoki~ng and'health). The President, in turn„ wrote Helms to assure h,imithe Secretary's com, ments didn't represent any Administration views. IN THE MC7SSi SUI~T seeking court judtJment,that the Consumer Product Safe- ty Commission does have'jurisdiiction over "tar" and nicotine:: The courtt granted the motioniof the si,x major cigarette companies to intervene. Plaintiffs--Sen. Moss, American Public Health Assn. an&District,of. Columbia Lung Assn.--answered the companies' contention that since none of the plaintiffs smoke,, they aren't inia position to be'injured by any level of "tar"'and nicotine. They proposed to amend their complaint and,to point out,th'at their nonsmoking members are inj'ured by involun- tary inhalation,, and that their members' ch,ild'ren,are injured by'smokingi. Meanwhile, Moss said in a letter to Chairman Rhoads of the NCAB that "I intend to pursue this suit t'o'the Supreme Court if'necessary." Cz Qi N `_

-3- OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION settled down to study public suggestions it solicitedl.(Newsletter 108'), about new standards for carbon monoxide exposure,,foundlabout 400 letters apparently inspi- red'by Banzhaf of' Action on Smoking & Healthiand mostly hand-writtem: James J!. Aitken, signing himself'as the Seventh Day Adventists' repre- sentative to Congress and the U.N., wrote that "me: beZieve one of'the first pZaces to start c2eaning, up pollution is in the office. ..We wouZd Zike to strongLy urge that you include CO from tobacco smoke when setting your regulatory st'andards. .. , THE ANTISMOKERS got a form letter reply: It said the agency lacks authority "to directly regulate the personal habits of employees," but to the extent smoking does produce CO it is subject to the agency standard. TOBACCO"S INVOLVEMENT in the Food for Peace Program,, P.L. 480, was again attacked by Rep. Peyser (R-N.Y'.),,, who offered an amendment to the agri- culture appropriations bill that would exclude tobacco from the program. Rep. Fountain (D-N.,C:)' argued for a status quo and used statistics fromi The Institute's "Facts About Tobacco" to bolster his argument. At the debate's end, Peyser asked for a roll call, coul'dn't muster enough,sup- port for it, and the amendment was rejected by voice vote., NEWHOUSE NEWS'SERVICE followed up on the proposal py Rep., Koch (D-N.Y.) (Newsletter 108) to use Mrs. Fbrd's illness to raise,cigarette taxes and devote the proceeds to cancer research. It reported that Chairman Mills (D-Ark.) of the tax-writing House Ways and' Means Committee "ordered that the: draft proposal be sent t'o the various federal agencies for study and eoarmtent'. That's extremely fast aetion on a new Zegislative idea," said the Newhouse dispatch., n FEDERAL~TRADE COMMISSION released its newest "tar"-nicotine report cover- ing 130 varieties of domestic cigarettes. HEALTH'~EDUCATION & WELFARE'S long-standingipolicy of keep- ing research grant applications secret on the theory that "ideas are a researcher's stock-in-trade" has been rejectedd by the U.S. Court of Appeals in1D.C. ". ..We hold that research designs submitted in grant applications are not exempt from disclosure under the ((Freedom of Information)) Act," the Cburt said. Meantime,, HEW'is upset by the rulingi and„ according to Drug Research:Reports, a specialty news- letter, HEW has asked the Justice Dept. to request that alil nine jud'ges on the appeals court re-hear the case and, if that doesn't work,carry it to the Supreme Court. NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE published a "status report"'of its tobacco re- search-actually airecounting of current work, of the Tobacco Workingi Group., Funding inifiscal '74!was a touch:under $6 million. Battelle Memorial Institute and'the Atomic Energy Cbmmission are TWG's lieading contractors, with Wynder's American Health Foundation third at a level of:$90a1,000. Veterans Administration gets nearly aiquarter-milli!on for continuation of'Auerbach''s smoking beagle experiments. AndiAr:thur D. Little, Inc.,, has a~ 641,000 annual~ contract to figure out how to test "'less hazardous" cigarettes for consumer acceptabili~ty.

-4- RESEARCHERS Wynd~_er Hammond and Selikoff, iman interview W;ith Hospital Tribune, questioned the validity of'a report by Chafetz of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcohollismithat said both heavy drinking and smoking are linked with the risk, of'developing!mouth and' throat cancer. Wynder said, "Heavy drinking by itself does not increase the risk,of cancer in the absence of smoking."' Seli!koff:, "Since smoking by titseZf'wil'L produce a significant increase in cancer incidence„ how does one assess the effect of drinking?" Hammond:: Stressed! that collecting d'ataion nonsmoking heavy drinkers is not easy and said that after a long smoker study , "We Zooked i~nto the question of nonsmoking heavy, drinkers, trying to eomplete the data, and we couZdn,'t." METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE CO. published a 3'4rpage booklet,. "You and Your Health," that provides all sorts of health "tips" andlmedical advice. There's a section on "Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking" that says, "S7mok'ing is associated titith, lung and'Zarynx cancer; heart disease„ emphysema, chronic bronchitis, si- nusitis and other ailments. Risk increases with the number of'ciga- rettes smoked'daily and the Z'engt'h of time that the smokinghabit per- sists."' It lists some,"benefits"'of not smoking, such as easier breathing, longer life, etc. n A,NEW:ANTISMOKING SPOT (possibly the first on "rights" of the nonsmoker)i, sponsored by the American Lung Assn., was aired in Phoenix., "Nonsmokers have equal rights,,"' says the spot. °TelZ'them ((:smokers)) you mind',very,much if'they smoke. Your Lung,.4ssociation considers it a matter of Zife: and breath."' FROM,THE EDITORIAL PAGE of the Wisconsiin Medical Journal: ". ..One of'the unfortunate circumstances pZ'aguzng our Western cul- ture is a total dtisregard for an individuaZ''s right to be the master of his own destiny., ...I:refer mainly to the representations of this injustice which try to protect a person from himself. Lcmas, customs,, or sociaZ'pressures wha:chitry to stop people from doing things that' are harmful or present a risk to none but the individual doing the act., Such exanrrples include seat belt Z'aws„ helmet Z'aas, anti-cigarette adver- tising Zaws (which shouZd in due course degenerate further to anti- smokinq Zarss). . . ~r U.S. TOBACCO JOURNAL quoted TI"s Rbger Moziingc„who said in part at a re- cent Noaror'ina i'na warehouse assn. meeting: "From 1953~to 1963; the anti- smoking strategy,was to indict'cigarette smoking in the mass media in order t'olpres- sure the Government into active intervention. From 1963 to 1973, the strategy was to pressure for specific Government policy that mould officially inform cigarette consumers:of the alZeged'hazard'to health. Beginning in.I974 and'for the decade ahead;, we beZ'ieve, the strategy used against us will be aimed at Government action, to limit the availability of ctigarettes=-di'rectZy by enforced product modification,, and indi'reetly,by, restri'cting the places where people may smoke.° IN SCIENCE DIGEST,, writer RichardlF., Dempewolff contributedd a long feature about tobacco substitute cigarettes. He sai~d, "It looks like tobacco, tastes like it, smells Zike it'd and smokes like a mild Nirginia bZend. But the smokestrecurr that comes through the filter tip contains vastZy reduced amounts of tars and nicotine and toxic gases thaty normaZly would be delivered by regular filter tipped cigarettes." DO SMOKERS!GET BETTER MEDICAL CARE?' Some re- search~shows they're more carefully diagnosed, and reaentlya tobacco industry executive suggested this may not give RESEARCH

-5- nonsmokers an even break. The September issue of the Journal of the American Dental Associatiom adds to the point. An article on "Sxpand, ing the raZe of the dentist in the detection of oral and'laryngeal caneer;" says that " a person smoking one or more packages of cigarettes a day is in,the high-risk category for carcinoma of the Larynx and;, therefore, should receive a complete exam- ina:tion. .,." BRITISH RESEARCHERS, several years agoy reported results of &large statistical study andiprovided,the major basis for contention thak smoking mothers produce smaller babies. What happens when a deeper look is taken, however,, turned up last month in,the British Medical Jaurnal, which reported that'a new study shows that the sisters of low weight babies" mothers also tended to have smaller babies--"independent of. . smoking habits."' HEALTH ORGAWIZATIOfWS LAST'NEWShETTER reported that Cynthia Strauff, public information director for the American I.ung Assn. of Maryland, was disenchanted with the so-called nonsmokers' "rights" movement and expressed her misgivings vocally at a Washington debate. TI has,since received her text, with this summary of her "argu- ment against lung association involvement" i'n the campaign: "1. The nonsmokers ri!ghts movement is an artificially manu- factured cause: that the lung association has seize:d--AA public relations gimm;i'ek which is recognized as such by, the ma;j,orit'y, of persons in the commu:n7,ty; "2. The movement' leaves itself open,to tasteless and vulgar displays over which the lung association has no control and for which the lttng, associa,ti'on must bear the brunt of negative reaction from offende1smokers and nonsmokers alike;, "3. Many, of' the persons to whom this movement'appeals use it as a convenient outl'e:t:for their hostilities;. "4,: It does nothing to support the persons whom we should re- gard as our primary target groups--the smoker and the: po- d x.~-..._tente:'aZ smoker;. - °S. Beyond'that', i~t antagonizes one of the very groups we should be working hardest to reach--the smoker himself; "6. It does n,ot change the soeial' climate or acceptability of smokti'ng, but serves to further alienate the two:groups, one of which is vital for us to reach; and,most unfor- t'.unate ly;. "7. The priortity the nonsmokers rights movement is being gi!ven by lung associations takes away precious time, efforts and funds from much more important, relevant and substantial lung association activi,ti'es that' woul'd help us toward reali'zation of our goal--the preventi!on and control of lung di'seases."

I -6- JACKSON' (Miss.) CLARION-LEDGER condemned cigarette smoking, lauded,the efforts of its state lung assn., and said:: ": ..Smokers and nonsmokers can -help spread'the good word by answering their Christmas Seal letter with a,generous contribution to the Mississippi Lung Association. Christmas Seals support the st'ruggle againstc7.gaTette smoking and the lung diseases it causes. It's a,matter of life and breath." _,. , ."D-DAY" (pon"t Smoke Day),,a one-day campaign in M;innesota to get smokers to quit:(Newsletter 107)~, was reportedly successful, accordingito AP. The news service quoted Dr.. David Carr, a lung specialist at Mayo,who saidi, "We"re not going to cure the: smoking habit with a one-day appeal, but this can dramatize the serious nature of the cigarette habit." Afew Minneapolis tobacconists queriediby AP said cigarettee sales were down about 25-3'0$' that day.. saidlDan Horn,, outgoing chief of'the National Clearinghouse for,Smoking & Health, to a reporter attending the Tlth International Cancer Congress in Florence., Horn said 1971 stati~stics, the latest available,, show a leveling off of the death rate in most age groups andlevidence of a de- crease in~menlundpr age 40. He said the leveling off is not limited to lung,ca:ncers but to alL "cigarette-associated'tumors," includi~ngithose of the mouth, bladder, larynx andipancreas. Horn credited the decline to:public demand for self protection, massive public health efforts to change behavior and to what he called public pressure to reduce "'tar°" and nicotine content in domestic cigarettes. PEDPLE' DEATH RATES from lung cancer among American men are on the wane for the first time-in:2'0 years, A,SRIM'PILY DRESSED Eva Gebor was featured inian American 'Cancer Society TV spot. She said:: "Hel'lo, darl'ings.: I'm Eva Cabor: You know, there i~s:a saying 'a man only ki'sses a hot stove once.' So I take the mord'of aZl the doctors who say that smoking is terriblee for your health. It gives:you wrinkles. It makes you cough. And after all this,, how can you be attractive? But the most important thing is it cuts your life short. And life is so beautiful. Why~cut it shorter?" IN HIS SYNDICATED COLUMN, Billy Graham quoted the view,of the U.S. Pub- lic Health~Service about smoking. He concluded that the custom is "a sin against one"s self." IVbWSMOkER ISSUE UPDATE on restrictive smoking legi~slation in four states: ~ ® C ~ ~. (1'I rX . ~ ~ s= Maine: The Governor, last Spring, issued an~executive order to segregate smokers,in state-owned buildings. Pennsylvania:: Public hearings are beingischeduled to discuss a proposal by the Public Utilities Commission,that smokers bee requiredlto occupy the rear 20% of all intrastate buses. Utah: Updated its penal code, making it a crime to smoke tobacco in any predesi~gnated enclosed public place and authorizing owners of'eating establishments, voluntarily, to segregate smokers.

-7- I i Washington: The legislature banned smoking on all state ferries. BANZHAF"S Action oniSmokingiand'Health had issued a report listing vari- ous:restrictive moves across the country and erroneously reported that Pa. has already moved smokers to the back of buses in that state. TI sources also confirm that the only restrictive legislation involving tobacco that passed the Washington legislature in 1974 had to do with the ban on state ferries. Banzhaf' reported smoker segregation in pub- lic meetings andistate-ownedibuildings. SAN DIEGO city council re-referred to,its committe on safety and transportation a broad proposal to ban:smoking in areas where the public meets and to provide for an optional clause allowing owners of restaurants, cocktail lounges and other retail establishments the privilege of posting "ho smoking" signs at their own discretion. FORT' LAUDERDALE (Fla. ) city council received a proposal i~n early Octo- ber.that, according to the city attorney,, is~"too extensive and goes beyond constitutional limitations.:"' Sources in Fort Lauderdiale told TI that the proposal should be severely moderated when it"s brought before the council next month. COOK CO. (Ill. ) Circuit Court has, ruled in, a class action suit that Illinois smokers were paying an unfair tax,on cigarettes between 19,67-71 and that smokers who file the proper tax rebate form will be paid back. The excess tax re- sulted from alstate revenue dept. ruling that allowed a sales tax to be leviedion the price of cigarettes and' on the cigarette tax, paid by retailers to wholesale distributors. Decatur Herald said it's "proper to point out the circuit court understood an illiegality when it saw,one." TAXES TOBACCO GROWERS INFORMATION COMMIiTTEE was greeted, at its 16th annual meeting by a Raleigh,NEws & Observer editorial praising growers for "strengthening the economy of' this state and contributing substantially towardla favorable balance in U.S. trade.," The growers, it said, "support a lot of people in town, including;, undoubtedly, a lot of nonsmokers." INDUSTRY TGIC chose Adron Harden of Georgia to succeed retired Carl Hicks as its chairman,. Speaker Joe Todd of the USDA toldi the group,"The tobacco,outliook was never better." Frank. Snodgrass,of the Burley export assn. recalliedid'eclining markets 15 years ago and a complete turnarounditod'ay. U.SI. Tobacco Chairman Lou Bantle said, "Tobacco is our business and we have nothing to be ashamed of." NORTH', CAROLI~NA,'S GOVERNOR and attorney general suggested'u:se of the state's police and investigative agencies to help curb smugg,li~ngiof cigarettes into high-tax northeastern states. Horace.Itornegay, TI President, promptly toldiNorth Carolina media the plan was "unrealistic." He saw no responsibility on the part of Tarheel officials to protect tax revenues i~n other states. WITH THIS ISSUE is a,copy of The Im:stitute's newest publi- cation: "About Tobacco Smoke," aibrief account of the chemi- cal ingredients in tobaccoismoke and some:of the inconsisten- cies in the scientific community as to;which, if' any, may

-8- be harmful. Extra copies may be ordered now by Newsletter readers. To be filledl jhst after the first of the year., (1