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Institute Newsletter PREPNREO:FOR.T"OUR INFORMpTIONIBY' THEI INSTITUTE STAFF' 7176..K. STRE'ET; N.IW:, WASHINGTON, O:C. 20006. •296:613/'. Number 91 February 4, 1974 *** ~** *,~* *'*,~. A PETITIONiTO PROHIBIT sale of cigarettes yielding more'than 21 mg of "'tar:"'in Federal Trade'Commissi~on tests was submitted to the Consumer. Product Safety Commission by Sen. Moss and the'American Public I3ealth. Assn., News reports estimatedithat this would account for about 15% off unit sales involving,about 27'of the 130 varieties on the market. The petition salid a 21 mg limit "will remove the most dan- gerous varieties:of cigarettes from the market" and recom- mended that the manufacturers be given 1&month,s to bring their cigarettes within compliance of'the proposed ruLe., In a statement available to media upon inquiry, The Institute,said, "The question of,levels of "'tar,"'in cigarettes was thoroughly explloredd at Sen. Moss' own subcommittee hearings two years ago. It was clear that there was no scienti~fic foundation on which to base legislation regulating levels of"'tar." Further, none of'the government witnesses at the Moss hearings could agree'on a"tar" level that wouldinot con, fuse or mislead smokers as to its meaning.. So, having failed to justi- fy lieglislation, Sen. M'oss now takes another course., As we pointed' out last August, the commission h:as:no legal authority over cigarettes.. We will appropriately challenge',th,is latest attempt to circumvent the prerogatives of'the Congress, which has spelled out in detail im two statutes how cigarettes are to be marketed. ,~**' ,~** **~ ,r** FTC SENT ITS ANNUAL CIGARETTE REPORT to Congress (and to the news me- dia). it was nine pages longi, the'shortest yet (16 pp. last year) and contained no new legislative recommendations for cigarettes. Nevertheless, newspapers and broadcasters gave: wide coverage to FTC's proposal for a"death, notice" package warning,

-2- failing to note that Congress twice had overridden the Com- mission's same recommendation in the past d'ecade„ and fai~ling to note that in another part of the current report FTC says the present warning is "adequate." PRESIDENT NIXON made reference:to tobacco in his State of the i7niion adl- dress to:Congress. He said:, "A primary challenge for:Federal agricul- tural policies now is to encourage greater production of ag,ri~culturall gpods. ..I am therefore asking the Congress to revamp the programs whichistill require restrictive Federal control over the production of'some remaining farm commodities--especially rice,, peanuts,, tobacco, sugar and!extra long staple cotton." ~** ~** **,~ ~** ANNIVERSARY WRAPUP: On Jan. 11, between the time Hughes Rudd and Frank Blair opened their morning newscasts, until after midnight when the last Metromedia station signedloff, there were at least 19 separate network, radio anditv broad'casts in recognition of the issuance ten years e:arlier of the smoking-hea:lth report of the Surgeon Generall's ad- vi~sory committee., A sampli~ng, indicated independent station coverage, in similar depth., Rudd''s "CBS Morning News:"'began with,his observation that "the coffi~n-nail business~is still booming" and went on to "look back at our nationasi nicotine fit."' In that atmos- phere of objectivity, correspondent Barry Serafin:conducted a,long interview with the former Surgeon General, Terry, at the outset of a busy day for the latter in Philadelphia (Newsletter, 90). An interview filmedlthe day before with. TI President Korneqay was ignoredi. Meanwhile, over at N'BC,: Barbara Walters hosted New York pathologist David_S_.pain on "Today," leading him with such, questions as. "Do you think young people,are,impressed' by the fact that they milght die of cancer thirty years later?" ("No.") Later in the show she asked John Macy,.president of the,Council of Better Business Bureaus, to prod'uce. some anti-smoki~ng,tv spots for ch,ildrem. He expressed disinterest. NBC-TV, alone among all networks, attempted,no interview with a TI, spokesman,. .Tprry, in current interviews and/or clips from his dramatic news conference aid'ecad'e ago, appeared:everywhere except. ABC-TV and the Metromed'ialstati~ons_ Radio nets providedd hourly coverage during the day, and the big three evening news shows capped'.it on tv. CBS' Sharon Lovejoy, on the Cronki~te program, said, "Americans are,still lighting up at an alarming rate." Harry Reasoner ended' ABC-TV"s coverage by noting that,"today the American~Cancer Society estimated that some 60,000 men and 15,000 women will die this year from liung cancer." Ron Nessen, talking with Terry on NBC's "Nightly News," said about smokers,, "These people are truly

hookedion cigarettes." Terry replied, "Yes, they're hooked. You couldn't find really a more expressive term. ., ." IN' OTHER ANNIVERSARY COVERAGE: o TI's statistics dliirector, Kastenbaum, andlDorothy Greene of'the Clearinghouse were iinterviewedion Maryland's public tv. o TI's PR director, Kloepfer, and,Dr. Ronald!Vincent of Roswell Park were interviewed on the National Public Radio network. National Interagency Council oniSmokingi& Health put out a statement publicizing "National Education Week on Smoking." Jan. 1.1 to 17, gaining substantial coverage, especially in small newspapers. : :_.. .. :. -..::... o; Gov. Walker (D) of Illl, proclaimed January as:"Educational Month on Smoking."' o BBC'Radio on Jan. 11 told Britons the U.S. Public Health. Service announced that "there were 12 million more cases, of chronic illness among adults than,there would have been if everyone,had a medical history of'non-smok,ing." o Dozens of papers ran ediitorials. Most had the same theme as the Washington Star-News which said "a stronger educational campaign obviously is need,ed'." o Ni.Y. State Education Dept. put on a luncheon at the Bilit- more,, to honor antii-smoking workers, with NBC's New York _ tv news director Earl Ubell, as featured speaker. CIVIiL AERONAUTICS BOARD:changed its mind' and' again-asked its empl'oyees traveling on commercial airline flights to report to CAB if they find: airlines failing to observe its order to segregate smokers., Despite protests by Sen. Ervin (;D-N.C.), whichiapparentl'y caused recision of a similar earlier order (Newsletter 88), CAB'issued another, memo to its staff asking them to monitor airlines' smoking procedur:es:when traveling onigovt. business., OF THE BANZHAF PETITION to FTC seeking aiban on billboard! cigarette advertiising (Newsletter 90), Advertising Age said in an,edliitorial:, ". ..We find the latest Banzhaf petition, contemptuous of common sense." Though Banzhaf announced in- tention to filie the petition three weeks ago, he hasn't done it. DR. JOSEPH KRISTAN, who was acquitted of an assault charge after he sprayed a womani"s lighted cigarette with,antiseptic (Newsletters 51 I

-4- & 63)1„ shared a platform with Banzhaf at a meeting of the D.C. Inter- agency Council on Smoking & Health. Banzhaf talked about his billboard, petition and K'ristanisaid cigarettes are child seducers. His motto,, according to the Washington Star-News is "fromithe egg to:the grave." Kristan told the audience he now has a pen that squirts his antiseptic spray: "I was just recently sitting around: ai table talking with a group of people. Everyone was smokiing so I just sprayed their cigarettes. The funny thing was that no one seemed to notice. They j'ust,lit up replacements as~if nothing had happenedi. What a shooting gallery that was." *~* *~* *** *~* MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS'.ON THE SMOKING-BAN FRONT,: In.Idehot A,biTl was introduced to segregate smokers in eIe- vators, art museums, liibraries and theaters. In Indiana: A bill was defeated, 53-4'3, that would,h,ave banned smoking in certain~public places.. In Maryland:: A legislative committee killed a bill sponsored by Group Against Smokers' Pollution (GASP) that would bann smoking in certain public',places. A~representative of the AmericaniLung Assn. had toldi a committee considering the bill that nonsmokers can get lung cancer by merely inhaling the "tobacco smoke of others. In Massachusetts: At least 15 antismoking bills were iintro- duced includingimoves to limit smoking in certainipublic places,, prohibit cigarette sales in state or county buildlings,. - inerease the state cigarette excise tax,, to include "'little cigars" in the excise,, and to establish separate classifications of auto insurance for nonsmokers., ..ra,.rt_:,. ..:r^ , . . - / . -Irfy•1 ., , n I :.l .; i rx ...,... . In Michiiganc~~ A billi was introdltcedi th,at' s aLmost identical to the one defeated in Indiana. In M'innesota: The "Minnesota Clean I~ndoor: Air Act" was iintro- auced "to protect the public health, comfort and!environment by prohibiting smoking in public places and'at public meet- ings except in desilgnated smoking areas." In Mississippi: A resolution to ban smoking on the floor ofl of the legislature was,defeated, 99-11, and one female legisr lator threatened to introduce a bill to ban nose-picking if the smoking bill passed. In South Carolina,: Similar to the.legislatiion passed' in. Arizona last year,, a bill was introduced to provide for no- smoking areas in elevators, art museums, buses:andilibraries.

- 5- In Utah: A 22-page omnibus crime bill was introduced'with the following inclusion: "It,is an infraction for any person to smoke cigars:, cigarettes or tobacco in any form in any enclosed public place:, except in extra rooms, compartments or coaches' specially provided for smoking purposes." In Wa:shiinuriton:: A bill was submitted sim:ilar' to one passed' in Oregon last year that sets aside areas for smokers in state- owned facilities. In Wisconsin:: Several antismoking bills are pending, and the Madison Capital Times ran a six-co1!umn, half-page story about the smoker/inansmoker movement in the state, quoting state health officer Dr. George Handy, who said smokers contaminate the atmosphere with carbon monoxide. The Times also quoted. -the'director`of a l'ocal Interagency Counciil on,Smoking andl Health, who said', "Look at it this way, Gary Cooper,, Bette Grablle,, Humphrey Bogart--all our fashionable smoking heros are dead." STRONG ANTISMOKING MOVES'also occurred' in many city and county govern- ments throughout the U.S~. Local antismoking ordinances were passed' in San Diego city and San Diego County. In Sacremento, both city and county,, an ordinance passed!but has since been challenged by two smokers who feel they're being, treated unfairly. The men are attempting to ob- tain 19,0001signatures on a petition that would stay the effective date of the ordinance, Feb. 25,, and, would require a city/county refer- endum to decide the issue. An ordinance was pending in Stockton. IN SANTA CLARA, Calif., GASP is mounting aiheavy attack ag,aiinst smokerss that i~ncludes special newsletters, dissemination of antiismok,ing propa- ---ganda,, local political lobbying and a special recruiting campaign to '- enlarge their 200-member group. Rermiit Smith, leader of the group,, told the Los Angelles Times: "We figure that if smokers want to poison, themselves that's their business. But we're not going to sit idly, by while the pollution level in a smoky room reaches double that outside. We're asserting ourselves and working for our own protection."' "BUYING CIGARETTES in Montilcel llo. Minni., tod'ay, " wrote a local reporter, "is a, little like trying, to fi'nd gasoline on Sunday.," Led by the publisher of'a Monticello newspaper, the:town em- barked on a one month:campaign against smoking. Close to 300 smokers signed a pliedge (their names were printed in the local newspaper) to quilt smoking for: aiday. NEW YORI{"'S GOV.,WSLSON made good on his promise to pushirepeal of New York City's cigarette surtaxes on cigarettes, which run as high as eight cents per pack.. His budget message to the legislature recom- mendpd a $50 million state payment to the city to offset its predicted tax:l'oss. The wipeout wouldii~nclude ex-Mayor Lindsay,'s "tar"-nicotine tax, the only one of its k,ind.

r-~ -6- Iin California, a resolution was introduced and killed by a committee that would have diverted two cents of the state "s tenicent cigarette excise to the allocation of the regents of the U. of Calif. for cancer research. *,~* *~,* **~ ~**. OSCAR AUERBACH (with Garfinkel andiHammondl) reported inithe journal Chest that he personally peered at 16',536' lung tissue: specimens result- ing from sone 1!,800 1970 autopsies,, rated "emphysema" and other abnor- malities on various numerical scales, and fiarther corroboratedihis own: earlier findings of relationships betweenismoking andillung problems. Chest,stri~pped alline into Auerbach's first paragraphi: "For editorial comment, see page 1." The editorial, by a Canadian physician,, was a plea for wider use of more sophisticated!tissue measurement techniques. ". ..There is evidpnce of considerable i!nterobserver variation," said the,editorial, ". ..whi~ch may be influenced by the emotions andlopin- ions of the observer." RESEARCHERS IN ICELAND made a h:istological study of'223 pril- mary 1!ung tumors over a 27-year period and found the male- female incidence ratio decreasing. They also:reported that the type of lung cancer they said is associated with smoking, has remained level in women, "which throws dbubt on the theory that the increase" of all types "in female incidence can be attributed to smoking." Nevertheless, the research- ers predicted that "the actual,number:of tumors will in- crease on account of the growing habit of ci~garette:smoking, and the continuedlpopulation increase." SCIENCE WRITERS JUNKETED off to Florida for a"seminar"'sponsored by the American Heart A,ssn. (February is the month for its annual fund- raisi~ng effort) and heard a Seattle pathologist say that maybe ather- osclerosi:s is actually tumors in blood vessels caused by chemicals ilnn cigarette smok:e. He got fu1L-columnicoverage in the New York Times plus substantial wire service reporting. GOOD PUBLICITY was also given to Dr.: Henry Blackburn, U. of Minn, med. school, who described the upcoming study of some 12,000 men in,19' urban areas who are considered by some to be high heart attack risks because they're smokers:, have high blood pressure and high lievells of'cholesterol in their blood. Called "Mr. Fit," acronym for multifactorial risk factor stitute intervention trial, the National Heart & Lung In project will reportedly be the largest public ~ health experiment si~nce,the polio vaccine trilals of the ~ 1950s. Qa U'. KANNEL, the Public Health,Service doctor at Framingham, says in JAMA "evidence iis not conclusive" that quiitting smokiing;-or controlling any other "risk factors"--results in fewer heart attacks.

! -7- HEALTH EDUCATION & WELFARE said in a news release that Brandeis U. re- searchers have developed "a highly sensitive test to detect nicotine in the blood or urine of smokers. .." that "may aid scientists in identifying individuals with aihigh~risk of developing lung,cancer,g heart disease or other smoking related ilTlnesses." An official de- scripti~on of the project implied' that past studies basedl on numbers of cigarettes smoked may not be very accurate. It said, "The intake of nicotine is quilte variable among smokers, si~nce,they inhale d'ifferentlly,, take different numbers of puffs from,a cigarette and may detoxify nico- tine in different waysid'epending upon the relative activities of the enzymes present initheir tissues." A W'TOP'(F7ashington, D.C.) TV reporter, having interviewed. National Cancer Insttitute's Dr. Gori, saidl: "Dr. Gori ex- pects to have his:less-hazardous cigarette on the market in three,to five years." MEDICAL OPINSON'published resul~ts'of the latest"known survey of phys'i-' cians' smoking: 27% of'the respondents are smokers. The magazine said it queried more than 3',AOO M.D."s and D.O.'s, by mail, and heardifrom 892. Cryptically,, it added, "Each response group is compared to known profiles of the physician population to assure that no imbalance has occurred in types of respondents."' THIRTEEN MONTHS AGO DONTENWILL, after inhalation experiments supported by the German tobacco industry:,, involving more than 4,000 hamsters, told the German press andith:e U.S.Tobacco Working Group that the animal is a good one in which to test the relative safety of'different cigarettes. Some scientists took special note,when he reported finding larynx cancer in, his animals., Last month,, his.paper finally appeared in Journal of the National Cancer Institute., He did report a bewildsring variety of tissue damage, but it appeared there was no correlation,inihis animals between smoke exposure and suchiproblems as 1!ung cancer,, heart disease, emphysema, stomach ulcers and bladder cancer. The exposure appeared to be far beyond the range of any conceivable human~exper- -ilence. National Cancer Institute d'idinot try to publicize Dontenwill's findings in the popular media,. WORLD HEALTH'ORGANIZI-YTION', at a Genev&health meeting, movedlto con- vene a committee "as soon as possible," a report,said, to study all aspects of'tobacco smoking. The executive board adopted'a resolution~ stressingithat smok,ing promotes the development of lung cancer, chron- ic bronchitis, emphysema and' ischaemic heart disease and:ag,gravates the course,of other diseases, "to the detriment of the heaTth,and thee economy of countries.'"' *~* SHEERIWEIGHT OF THE PROPAGANDA ATTACK against tobacco is felt,in a govt. catal~ogue, "What's New on Smoking in Print,and on, Film," listing . tj Cz -.1 Q= a=

-8- 100 movies, publications and posters available free,or by purchase from 15 non-profit health, organizations andlgovt. agencies. Free-loan films alone--the most expensive category in the listing--include seven,from the American Cancer Society, seven from,the American Heart Assn.„ five from the American Lung A'ssn_ one from the AmeriicaniPubli¢ Health Assn. and four fromithe i7.S. Public, Health S'ervice. Despite its objective-sounding title, the catalogue does not list TI's film, "Smoking and Health-The Need to K'now.," APPOINTED: David Stone, former senior scientist at Worcester,Foundation for Experimental Biology, as associate research director at Council for Tobacco Research,. DIED: Timothy V. Hartnett,, who began a career with British. American Tobacco Co. as an office boy and served as presi- dent of'Brown & Williamson from 1941 to 1954, in Louisville at 83. NEW FACES: J.M. ArLedqe,and ArthurEL.S1oatof L&M were elected to TI's boardiand executive committee at its 16th annual meetingilast week, replacing Milt Harrington and Raymond Mulligan. Timothy Cornell replaced Ernest Summers~of Scotten, Dillon on the board, and Thomas M. Bloch of Bloch Bros., member of the Board since TI's founding in 1958, resigned as a result of his company's merger with,H;elme. C., Gilbert Collingwood of Philip Morris was elected treasurer and' appointed chair- man of the,budget committee, replacing John:J. Murphy of L&M, who re- signed.: Other changes~of officers were electiomof Buford .nes of Philip Morris as assistant treasurer, succeeding John J., Kelly of L&M, and promotion of J.C.B. Erhinghaus, Jr., from vice president and1coun- sel to senior vice president and counsel'. Other directors and' officers were reelected or reappointed. r~.