Tobacco Documents Online

nstiitute~ Newsletter ;pREVARED.FOR YOUR INFORMATiON CNTHE'.INSTITUTE'.STAFF177i K STREET, N.W1, WASHINGTON, D.C. 2000l. •39k-!l34 . Number 84 October 15, , 1973 I *** *,x* *** *~* CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION Chairman Simpson complainedlin a Na- tional Press Club speech about mistaken press coverage: "I never said I intended to nor wanted to ban ciigarettes. In fact," remarked the new Cbmmission chairman,, "I would be opposedito altotal ban." He admitted the cigarette issue is "rlouded"'andlsaid that cigarettes "are exempted from our control under the Consumer Product Safety Act," but added that "nowhere in the Hazardous Substances~Act is tobacco exemptedi....Lacking clear Congressional action,,, I believe it is an open questionlas to wheth- er we do or do not have,j'urisdiction,over cigarettes. It is:one wh,ichh the courts may ultimatel!y have to decide.. "Since I know of no one who seriously favors altotal ban,,"' he went on, "I believe those who wishito write on the subject do a disservice and cloud the,issue by attributing this sug- gestion, to me or the Commi~ssion. It would be far better to attempt to avoid1the knee-jierk, reaction associated with, this subject and rationally engage iniconversation of what, if anything, can or should be done." Askedlwhat alsafer cigarette is, Simpson replied: "I don't -'know what a safer cilgarette is--it might be safer if it had less tar and nicotine, but we have to study this," MEANWHI'LE, NEWYORK TIMES covered' the Simpson speech and,noted in a story the next d'ay that the chairman had told the Times last Aug., that he was "prepared to seek a ban on all or some cigarettes" if research,confirmed that cigarettes were a~health hazard. The Times then noted that Simpson,, C) ' at the Press Club, said he never; proposed an all out ban. (Yet the, Times:was one of two papers--the other was the Courier-Journal--that ~ Simpson said in his formal! speechireported objectively on his origiinal statement.) The newspaper further noted that TI and many Members of Congress "vigorously" objected to the initial Simpsonistatement. GJ1 O ~ ~'

3 -2- COURIiER-JOURNAL reported'th,at Simpson said after the speech he expected the Commission's role to come to a head in the next few,months, and that he still expects to receive alpeti~tion next month from Sen., Moss (D-Utah)' to take up the smoking- health question.Simpson appeared last week to testify be- fore a House committee on further consumer legislation, stuckk to his "open questiion," position as to his tobacco jurisdiction under questioning by Rep. Fuqua (b-Fla.). CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR reported that the jurisdictional view of Sen. Magnuson (D-Wash.) (Newsletter 83) had taken "steam" out of Simpson's proposal., But it saidiSen. M'oss (D-Utah) "'is gpingiahead with his pe- tiition to the commission, albeit he h:asisett back his timetablle. He now plans, says aniaide,, to submit a petition to the Commission by November,, asking that,it establish maximum limits on tar and nicotine in ciga- rettes. He plans to have the petition signed by antismoking,orgianiza- tions, member,s of Congress, and others." A few days later, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel quoted M'oss as sayi~ngi that since the Comtnissioniseems "to be, self- starters on,this issue, I haven't felt it was urgent to pe- tition them. But I,am ready to petition if necessary to get it considered." In the same interview he pushedlfor a grad- uated "tar"-nicotine tax. A,FIRE INCIDENCEISURVEY', conducted by the Census Bureau and jointly funded by the Commissioniand the National Bureau of Standards ($2'50,0Q0), will commence next spring to "pinpoint which fabric items are most in, volved in fires and what products--such, as appliances, TVs, cigarette lighters--seem to cause the accidents," reports Product Safety Letter, a Washington-based, private newsletter reporting on CPSC activities. "WAS THIS SCARE NECESSARY?" That's the title of a three-page report in Med!ical World News on how the CPSC earnedla "Poorly thought out and pre- mature" verdi:ct from geneticists questioned by the magazine about the banning of adhesive sprays. MWN says the ban occurredlafter an asso- ciate professor at the U. of Ok1ai. reported finding a higher level of chromosome breaks in only 10 persons who had used the adh:esi~ves, as op- posed,to 12 who hadn't. It called the data,"inconclusive," and said. "consumers are frightened!„ and genetici~sts and genetics counseling ser- vices across the country are swamped with phone calls and questionss they have no answers for:." ***, *~* ***, *** NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARID called for new aircraft cabin and lavatory fire prevention measures. It acted after 124!jet passengers were killed in a Paris crash: last July as a possible result of an in- flight cabin fire. The board noted among other things that "frequ:ently, cigarette butts are found in waste paper containers" iniaircraft lava- tories. It did nott say they were the cause of fires. But Baltimore's News-American translated this in an editorial to read:,

-3- "The NTSB found that many in-flight fires have been caused by carelessness in lavator:ies. Unbelievable as it may seem, some people drop their cigarettes into paper containers, setting the paper and, at times, the containers, afire. Common sense on the part of smokers should end this unnecessary threat to life., If not, then a complete ban om smokingishould be en*- forced.," XKEY NEW YORK CITY COUNCILMAN asked' that the cilty's "tar" and nicotine tax be repealed to end the "unwitting par,tner:shi~p" of the city and or- ganized crime., Councilman Matthew J. Troy, Jr. told a news conference that the Eastern crime syndicate smuggiles more th,an a million packs of cigarettes daily into the city that amount to $13 million yearly in profits toward organized crime., He said, "This tax has not only been a total failure--it has enriched the bums who are killingius with drugs and the rackets. The sole beneficiary of the tax,," he said, "has been organized crime." New York Times reported that prospects for the bill "seemed high" because it will probably:be assigned to the Finance Com- mittee of whi~chiTtoy is chairman. If enacted, the repeal would be ef- fective July 1, 1974. **~ *** *~* *** AWARENESS' OF KNOWLEDGE GAPS!about healthieffects of air pollution.seemed dominant among the scientists who attended a National,Academy of Sciences seminar here where more than.a hundred spectators listened to 29 govern- ment and academic participants comment on,pollutants and their all'eged hazardous effects. The only private industry speaker, ALCOA Medical Director Bertram D. Hinman, said that a conference at the National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Healthiblamed cigarettes as the. "dominant source of carbon monoxide exposure." He said ciga- rette smoking "is usually considered as an assumed or vol- untary risk,"'and!th,at "in,actuality society bears the cost of, morbidity and mortality associated' with exposure to CO, the potential cost saving, should,be,given high, priority." Leading note throughout the meetings, sponsored by the Senate Subcom- mittee on Air and Water Pollution, was that science does not know enough about various air pollution components to change -- or even j,ud'ge the validity of -- the:air quality standards set by the Clean Air Act of 1970 and so unpopular with;automakers and utilities. "This selective and incomplete review of CO effects reveals persistent areas of ingnorance and a variety of unanswered questions,"'declared ID_r., Donald Bartlett, Jr., of DartmouthiMed. School., "Yet of all the pollu- tants to be discussediin this conference, CO is probably the best under- stood." Bartlett stated flatly: "The questioniof whether CO in- fluences heart disease mortality remains open. The increased

-4- heart disease death rates in cigarette smokers may be attribu- table to CO, but other mechanisms cannot be excliuded." - No~less applicable to the smoking/health,controversy were comments of Dr. John Fiinklea,, director of National Environmental Research Center of the Environmental Protection Agency and coauthor of a number of EPA's CHESS sttudiies:condemning cigarettes (Newsletters 70~and175),. Like many of the speakers, Finklea did not feel that air qualiity standards should be relaxed, as automakers and utilities want. "I believe in making a mistake on behalf of those who breathe. I'm very biased," the jovial speaker toldia news conference. "I am!firmly convinced that air pol!lu- tion as it exists in this country today does have health effects. Somee of my collleagues ('(at EPA)) are not so firmly convinced." Finklea's paper said: "Personal pollution among,cigiarette smokers is a,stronger determinant than ambient air pollution inicontribnting to the development of chronic respiratory disease symptoms..-The sum of the evidence suggests thatt whiile personal cigarette smoking is the largest determinant of bronchitis prevalence air pollution itself is a significant and consistent contributing factor." Epidemiologist Ian Higgins, U., of Mich., School of Public Heallth:,, had harsh,wordls for the EPA's studies, however. Adtnitting that the CHESS studies represented "the largest body of data collected since the formu- lation of air quality standards," he said, "I think the samples chosen, the methods and procedures used, the internal inconsistency of some of the findings and other questions render the val'.idity of the findings un- certaim,...some of:the,biologiica.l effects observed need to be repeated with improved methodology." (The CHESS work reported so far on ciga- rettes is based on self-reports of symptoms and illnesses by question- naire or telephone interview.)i The conference was the first step in a $300,000 contract that will include an NAS report on current knowledi3e in air poll'u- tioniand which will attempt, by Senate subcommittee instruction, to answer these among other questions: "What proportion of total health hazard to the city dwelller comes fromiair pollu- tion? From automobile emissions?? What is the proportionlof total health hazard'fromiurban air pollution1wh,ich is due to pollutants in the amounts whichithey are emitted! fromiauto- mobiles?" *~* *** *~* *** GORI called a meeting of National Cancer'Institute's Tobacco Working Group for Oct., 17, with an hour open to the publiic "to review current results from the first series of'experimental cigarettes:," and the rest of the day closed "to review unsolicited proposals for contracts." U1.S. DEPT., OF AGRICULTURE awarded a$3'3',,:000 contract to Hoffman at the American Health,Foundati!on for a 15-month: study of the chemical compo-

- 5- sitiimof cigarette smoke, as part of the Department's "safer tobacco" research. The Department also gave Health,Research Inc.,,, Roswell Park Division,, Buffalo, $39,000,for a 2'~.-year study of "the degree of carcinogenicity in experimental,tobaccos," an Agr., news release said., U.S.D.,A. said it wants to determiine how various agricultural methods for growing tobaccos "may affect cancer- causing activity of the smoke from cigarettes made from these tobaccos." DOE'S' RELATIVE ABSTINENCE from tobacco and alcohol help explain lower cancer rates in Seventh Day Adven:tists:?; Not necessarily, says Dr. Roland I. Phillips, who according to UPI will head a research team financed by the National Cancer Institute to study 100:,000:member:s of the faith~in. California. The wire service said he feels that both: Mormons' and Ad- ventists' reportedly lower rates of drinking and smoking do not explain, their reportedly lower rates of such,cancers as breast, leukemia, lymphoma colon and rectal. SCHZEVELBEINi, an expert on nicotine pharmacology:at the Muenchen. Univ., analysediconsiiderable literature on effects of tobacco smoke on nonsmoker:s,, concluded' in a paper in Germany's Internist that "Available studiies contain no evidence to the effect th:att the,heallth,of nonsmokers is threatened by 'passive smoking.'" NORWAY'S TOBACCO INDUSTRY,, with the backiing,of Sweden"s Institute of Hygiene at Uppsala Univ., told news media that it "objects strongl'y" to "theorizing about an alleged harmful'ness in passive smoking without a basis in tenable research,." The public statement by the Norwegian To- bacco Mfrs. Assn. documented its position, noted that literature quoted by the U.S. Surgeon General was "somewhat biased,," and quoted The Tobac- co Institute as saying,, "The Surgeon General's evidence of the effect of smoke on nonsmokers using these ('(experimental)) models is an:exam- ple of his uncritical andlunrealistic selection of scientific literature." A RES'EARCHER' at the pathology department of Sheffield Royal Infirmary reported in,the British,journal Thorax that as a, result of study of female lung cancer cases over 16' yea:r:s he could not correlate the types of malignancies with smoking,, as others have claimed to do among American men:,, for example., He said'it "raises the disturbing possibility that the cur- rent increase in the incidence of lung cancer in:women may be due not,to smoking.but to some as yet unrecognized cause." UNIiv. OF SAN' FR7lNCISCO: ANNOUNCED' a$115', 000 grant from Councill for To- bacco Researchifor Arthur Furst to refine, as he put iit, "a: reproducible way of'causing lung cancer in miice--it's never: been done before." The news release said a delicate procedure of tracheal inj,ectiioniof sus- pected carcinogens is involved'.

-6- BRITISH'MEDICAL JOURNAL published a letter from Hickey and associates at U. of Penn. contradicting its flat assertion (Newsletter 70) that there is no doubt smoking during preg- nancy "has adverse effects on the developing fetus." Said the correspondents, after reviewing pertinent literature:: "The question~o;f causal relationships between smokingiand low birthiweight is far from settled." THOSE ANTIPERSPIRANT'SPRAYS that GiLlette pulled off the market--Ad Aqe says "industry sources expressed surprise" when they learned the "irri- tation"'reported by the company was Lung,, not,skin. The paper said "lung congestion" was found in animals subj'ected to high doses of the aerosols. ~** **~ *** TURNAROUND: At a recent adverti~sing seminar sponsored by the Assn. of National Advertisers, John Petti~t, Ftderal Communications Commission general counsel said the cigarette ad broadcast ban "distorted" the fairness doctrine's purpose and, "I think it's fair to state: now that our cigarette ruling,was and iis an unmitigated disaster and should be dealt with acco:rdingly in our fairness inquiry. Our cigarette ruling deserves a decent burial with a minimum of mourning." CIGARETTE & LIQUOR billboard advertising would be banned in Seattle if Council'man Bruce Chapman gpt,his way, reported the Seattle Times. Chap- man said citizens have the right "not to be unceasingly and incapably bombarded with, Madison Avenue propagiandaidesigned to get them to endan- ger their health,." He further noted that cigarette ads are bannedlfrom the airways and said, "Public roadways are as fit for public regulation as the public airways." Hearings on the proposed ban will commence, Oct. 17. SMOKING BANNED:: At J'acksonville, FZa.,'s Air Pollution Control Board., Its chairman saida "It is kind of inconsistent to have billowing!clouds of smoke coming up at the meetings." SMOKING BAN DEFEATED: At the Laguna Beach, Calif.,, school board where an observer asked the;members;to ban tobacco: at their meetings. The five-member board wasn't interested. Its chairman, a dentist and a smoker, tabled the issue des- pite threats to bring it before the county health department. A HOSPITAL in Colorado Springs, complying with the local medi- cal society's request stopped selling cigarettes. "IT HAS THE LATEST IN SAFETY'DEVICES,," said the man adtniring a new car in,a cartoon distributed by the Washington Star Syndicate. "Seat belits,, padded dash,and,no cigarette lighter."' W "IF'YOU1SMOKE, you'd better learn something about staying alive,"'is the ~ theme of a new HEW antismoking advertisement that suggests smokers ~.

-7- choose cigarettes with: low "tar"'andlnicotine contents,, take fewer puffs,, reduce inhaling and smoke:as few cigarettes as possilble. "Since there's no such thing as a safe cigiarette," the "public service" ad says, "your health, is still in danger. So,, stay close to your doctor.," HEW sent the ad'.to all publishers with, a request for free space. RETIRED: G.F. Todd, as Director of UK's industry-supported Tobacco Research Council, effective Nov. 301. He"Il continue as a consultant, with the Council's Chairman, Sir Cli~fford Jarrett,, taking over as chief executive. ` NOTWITHSTANDING HIS OWN RESEARCHERS' challenge of "the traditional view" about smoki!ng,and health:,, (Newsletter:82),, Nader turned up in Atlanta with "the,traditional view" in an, address to the American Society of Oral Surgeons., Here is an excerpt from the writeup in the Atlanta Journal!: "'Health education in this country is atrocious,' he said.... 'That fact is evident by tlie amount of cigarette smoke bil- lowing up from this audience'...,About 10 minutes later the smoke in the meeting halll of,the hotell had declined appre- ciably." "DEAR ABBY" Van Buren,wrote in her collumn,, notwithstandi~ngiand not men- tionihgicontraryfindings ofth:e SurgeonGeneral'sAdvi~soryCommittee,: that smokers "become,addicted. (Nicotine is habit-forming, and don"t let anyone tell you it isn't.)" Sir M'acfarlane Burnet,, Australian Nobel Prize winner, told an audiencee at Auckland U.i~n New Zealand that he disagreed with suggestions that even minor increases iniradiation levels caused an increased cancer inci- dence., He said his own view is~that cancer i~s a:side-effect of the ev- ollution,process and a means of regullating the life span:of the species. Even in the case of'lung cancer, he said, all the figures available in- dicate that age was just as important as cigarettes in determining in- cidence. A,WASHINGTON DENTIST wrote the Post to~complain about non- smokers having no option whether to pay for ashtrays and lighters in cars. A Ford'dealler wrote back: "Personally, 11 wish, I h:ad'a few option,choices every time I visit a den- tist." FAMILY'HEALTH'magazine did an article on Betty Carnes and her antismoking activities (among other things she's "financial director" for ASH):: "For up to 16 hours a day, she bombards politicians, executives, and media people with her message, personally and by mail." A ST. LOUIS PRINTING FIRM',, reports the Wall Street Jburnal,, C gives its employees a $500 bonus if they quit smoking for ~ two months,, but they have to repay the money if they start again1within a year.. The death of'some employees from lung N ~,

-8- or throat cancer led to the plan,, the firm"s president told WSJ. It was covered on the front page. CIGARETTE TAXES REDUCE CONSUMPTION, said Tobacco Tax Council Presi~dent. Wm6 O'Flaherty at a recent security analysts" seminar hosted'.by John CL Maxwell. Said O'Flaherty':: "By 1977.,..if there are no further tax in, creases, domestic cigarette consumption should approach,650 billion ciga- rettes. On the other hand,, if the trend in state cigarette tax increases continues as it has in~the recent past, 255 billi~on fewer cigarettes will be sold in the United States over the nexti five years."' TIi SENIiOR VP Wm~ Klloepfer also addressed the group and' notedl tYie forth- coming 10th anniversary of the Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General' on,SmokingiandlHealth. "The Report, as you well know," Kloepfer said, "statedias proven,fact among,other things that lung can- cer is caused by cigarette smoke. Yet every month since then medicall and scientific j'ournals have carried additional papers which seem to treat these thi~ngs as hypotheses or beliefs, and then try to offer some supporting evidence., So mark down this paradox:: The same people who have hailed the 'proven fact' are still applying their talents and funds to proving it." *** **~ *~* *** ###