Tobacco Documents Online

i TESTIMONY TO CI T IZE'JS' PANEL ON St•'OKING AND HEALTH As Dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, I appreciate the opportunity to provide written testimony to the Panel. The cigarette is the largest single preventable cause of premature death and major illness in I'•lichigan. It adds literally millions of dollars of unnecessary medical expenses to the health budget of this State every year. It produces widows and orphans at an appalling rate. Its role as premier causal agent for the dread disease lung cancer is widely understood. However, fewer of our citizens are aware that it -causes even more unnecessary deaths_from heart -attacks and that it is a more important risk factor than cholesterol. Yet, the tobacco industry continues to advertise the cigarette, to deny its well established health effects, and to portray cigarette smokers as suave sophisticates practicing a socially attractive habit. This is the industry that is responsible for today's mass pro-smoking campaigns in third world countries, exporting illness and death in the name of American free enterprise. I urge the Panel to take all reasonable steps to restrict cigarette usage in Michigan. Efforts to make smoking-socially un- desirable should be increased. Smoking in public places, such as air- ports, should be eliminated. Smoking on commercial air carriers and other public transport should be prohibited in Michigan by law. Non- smoking areas in restaurants should be made more attractive and expanded in size, thereby making smokers wait longer for service. Cigarette advertising should be sharply curtailed. The excise tax on cigarettes should be increased, the proceeds being used to advance the public health. Ultimately, tobacco companies should pay the costs of the unnecessary health care resulting from sale of their pernicious product. No reasonable body of scientific opinion defends the safety of cigarette smoking. Epidemiologists and statisticians agree that a huge mass of evidence condemns cigarette smoking beyond any shadow of a doubt. I urge the Panel to take action on behalf of the public health and safety to reduce cigarette usage by all of Michigan citizens. Richard D. Remington, Ph.D. Dean, University of Michigan School of Public Health i i I I I I I E ~ ~ L