NYSA TI Single-Page 4
Bob Hanrahan THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE 1875 1 STREET, NORTH%VEST
Abstract
It's unfortunate that in hi~ October 23 piece for the World Herald, New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis relied on emotional rhetoric about tobacco rather than objective commentary.
Fields
- Named Organization
- National Institutes of Health
- New York Times
- Tobacco Institute (Industry Trade Association)The purpose of the Institute was to defeat legislation unfavorable to the industry, put a positive spin on the tobacco industry, bolster the industry's credibility with legislators and the public, and help maintain the controversy over "the primary issue" (the health issue).
- Named Person
- Hanrahan, Bob
- Lewis, Anthony
- Toohey, William D., Jr. (TI Media Director, c. 1984)Director of Media Relations at the Tobacco Institute in 1984.
- Date Loaded
- 18 Jul 2005
- Box
- 0624
Document Images
bcc:
Bob Hanrahan
THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE
1875 1 STREET, NORTH%VEST
WASHINGTON. DC 20008
202/457-4800 • 800/424-9876
%%rlLLI/h~l D, TOOHEY, ]'R.
Direclor of Media Relations
202/457-4856
November 5, 1981
Mr. Woodson Howe.
Executive Editor
Omaha World Herald
14th & Dodge. Streets
Omaha, NE 68102
Dear Mr. Howe:
It's unfortunate that in hi~ October 23 piece for the World
Herald, New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis relied on
emotional rhetoric about tobacco rather than objective commen-
tary. ...- ..~
Lewis claims that smoking is the reason for increasing lung
cancer death rates in this country. A May, 1980 report to the
president, "Toxic Chemicals and Public Protection,." prepared by
the Toxic Substances Strategy Committee, which, indluded the
surgeon general and the director of the National Institutes of
Health, raised serious que.st%~ns about that assertion.
The report noted, for example, that there has been a reported
doubling of lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in the last decade.
Iffurther recognized that statistical associations between the
disease and where people live and work should not be overlooked.
Even the 1979 Surgeon General's report on smoking and health
~ candidl~ admitted: "Most large scalestudies on smoking and health
have tended to investigate the role of smoking independently of
other behavioral variables, such as alcohol consumption and other
lifestyle, factors, occupational and environmental hazards, and
certain psychological factors. These variables are known to be
related to-health status and many are also related to smoking
habits."
The f~ctis, science still h~s not been able.to tell us exactly
how a normal lung cell -- in either smokers Dr nonsmokers --
becomes cancerous, or why. Nor, although not for lack of trying,
has any well-designed smoke inhalation study with laborato.ry
animals been able to produce human-type lung tumors. Propaganda
about t6bacco will not unravel the mysteries of science. Only
continued, unbiased research will provide the answers we all seek.
WDTjr:mss
~Sincerely, "
William D. Toohey,~r. "
T105390215
