Tobacco Documents Online

Time magazine and'U.S. News passedlover the Royal College report on its release. When the British Giavernment later supported the report, Time ran the story at left. lki TIi2+1R mM+sren 23 , iyb2 , (N Britain v. Cigarettes Last week for the first time the govem. o ent of a major nation took strong cial action to discourage its citizens - from smoking cigarettes. Acting ow evi- dence fhat cigarettes cause llmg cancer, . Britain's Ministries uf Health andlEduca t~~ lionbegan sending out circulars putting ~rJ: their suooot4 behind a report by a nine- man committee of the prestigious: Royal 1~0 College of Physicians: The commit:ee had done no new scientific a•ork. but it spent V: almost three vears evaluating, existing statistical and medical dAta. Its unquali- fied 8ed conclusion: "Cigarette smoking, is a cause of lung cancer " Health Minister J. EEtoch Powell told Parliament: "This report, demonstrates authoritatively and crush'ingly the causal, connection between smoking, and' lung, cancer."'He agreed to carry out the Royal College's recommendation that °general' discouragement of' smoking;, particularly by young people, is necessary." And I be promised to consider othermeasures urged by the Royal College, which would: l Keep children from buying tobacco -prodiuts, restrict tobacco advertising;,and cut down,smoking in public plices: 0 Boost the tax on cigarettes-already 46? on average,brands selling for 630 a pack-and reduce it,on less harmful cigars andlpipe tobacco. so Try anti-smoking , clinics for those who find it:hard to quit. N'EWS4IF.IIC March,19; 1962 On the Line Again For 444 years London's powerful Royal College of Physicians has beenn keeping watch over the health of Eng- land. land. It led the struggle against hubonio plague in the seventeenth century, by condemning primitive sanitation condi-; tions; in 1725, it crusaded successfully against the consumption of cheap gina, then a major killer; in 1802, it per- suaded Parliament to endorse Edward! Jenner's vaccine and, thus fought the war on smallpox, Lut week the Royal College once again placedlits prestige omthe line. In a 70-page report entitled "Smoking, and, Health," the,societv issued an unequivo- cal indictment of cigarettes, "Cigarette smoking is a cause of lung caneer," the society said bluntly, and reported that Great Britain's present death rate:from this disease is the high, est in the world. Urging the government' to take "decisive steps" to curb the rising use of tobacco, especially ciga, rettes, the pamphlet went ott i to say that' heavy cigarette, smoking may well contribute to the development of coro- nary heart disease as well as delay the healing of gastric and duodenal ukers. "Smoking and Health" was prepared by a special nine-member committee headed by Royal College president Sir. Robert Platt, a 61-vear old kidnev spe- ci:ilisi who gave up smoking himself eight years ago. The reportfs conclusions are based,on more than 200 studies; mostlv drawn from British and I American scien- tific journals. Among the findings: taDurong the last 45 years; while the death rate from other form; of cancer in Enb:ar.d, has decreased slc.vly; denrhs from lung c±ncer have soared. Deaths from lung, cancer among men betAveen the ages of 45 and 60 totaled 30' per 100,000 in 1930; 48 in 1940; and 165 ' per 1t:0;0tk) in 19b9. ElTiring adidt life;,nearly 75 per cent uf men and 50'per cent of women in Britain, are regular smokers. taHeavy smokers (those who~smoke from, 2.5 to 30 cigarettes a day) have abaut 30 times the death ~ rate from lung, c:en- cer as do non-smokers, "Lung cancer kiIIS about' one heavy smoker in eight," said Sir Robert, speak- ing last week in a gilt-corniced College of Physicians lecture hall near Trafalgar Square. "Of course you may say this is still a minority, but supposing you were offered flight on an airplane and you were told that usually only about one in eight crashed. You might think again." '1'he pleasures of smoking must now be weighed against its dangers,"'the re- port statBdJ To make these dangers better known, the Royal l College recom- mended that the government introduce:a massive education campaign to discour- age smoking. It also recommended that the Ministry of Health, through the Na- tional Health Serviee; establish anti- smoking clinics to help nicotine addicts kick the habit. Other suggestions rangedl from restricting tobacco advertising (more than dt;11 million or $3018 million, was spent on such advertising in 1960) to strengthening the, prohibitions on smoking in, public places. The report also suggested that more stringent cigarette taxation would drive smokers to "less harmful" pipes and cigars; (The British tax' on cigarettes is even now the worldi,i highest, amounting to 46 cents on i a pack of twenty cigarettes selling for 63 cents. ) Although the Ministry of Health iwas not sure last week about steps it would take, Laborite M.P. Kenneth Robinson offeredlhis views. "I',think a tax boost is outi"'he told a reporter, "There may be a, certain control of advertising:, But not much can be done about veteran smokers-they're beyond redemption."' H.t Ne.rss While the Royal College report turnss up little new data,, it does assess the accumulated evidence with a disquieting authority that has made it front-page news throughout England. Ten thousand'copies,of the report went on sale for 70' cents in book stalls, sub- ways;, and vain stations. The British tobacco industry, res-,~ondedl by labeling the report' incomplete because a eon- current study investigating air pollution has been deferred. "General condemna- tion"of cigarette smoking, tobacco men said, shows a negative approach to the problem of lung cancer. In the UiS:,,Sen. Maurine Neuberger, Democrat of Oregon cited "Smoking and Health7 in~a speech on the floor oflthe Senate. If similar measures to carb smok- ing were introduced in the United States, she pointed out, the money from in- creased I cigarette taxes might be applied to cancer research andlfoodland drogg policing. Mrs. Nenbergen said she is working', on a bill "to deal with, this tragic problem."' For its part; the Tobacco Institute iii Washington expressed strong doubts about the Royal College report as "a review of' old data:° There was, however, one paragraph in "Smoking and Health" with which British ~ and American tobacco manufacr tUrers apparently took no issue: To re- duce the health risk for those who persist in smoking,, it suggested stubbing out a cigarette halfway throagh: ,_. .- r ~ ... ., ~ ..~-.. ~.s