Tobacco Documents Online

5,3 `. 'r 1'(., fANG' ISLAND PRF„SS. Jamaicay Nes+ York June 9, 19b2 'tWlayrbe' Won't Do ir ami Answer :' W1th President Sennedy's blessing, the U. S. surgeon general is to appoint awad- vJsor,y eommtttee to study the effect of cigaret'te,smoking on bealthr, - lihe surgw en general's report is not ex- pected until next year. Meanwhile, we shall rock along, with some medibos be- lieving lung cancer and heart diseases can be linked to excessive smoking, and other medicos lnsisting, the evidence proves no cuch,thing. We'd like to have a flat answer, one ' way or the other, and hope the surgeon, generaliwill develop a new approach to the problem. It he doesn't . . . it he simply sums up all that's been saidl pro and con r l ~l l b ~- ~~ CLARIfDN -LEDGF,R Jaclcsony Mississippi June 11, 1962' Federal SCiA~1C5 Qt The tobacco industry insista that the ll 1 lidr between smoking, and cancer or other S;LIl@ ~7 o'' And CaILGEr diaeage has,sot been proved. itsays that ~- ~ air pollution is a much likelier catne: Of personat interest to I Mississippi Hcet smokers are willing to admit'the , smokers is the Washington report that two Possibility that the use: of cigarettes may federal agencies are preparing; special cause eancer, especially oCthe lungs, but studies dealing •.vith the possible connec- the steadily increasing sales of cigarettes tion between cigarette-smoking and certain would seem to indicate public apathy or kinds of cancer. resignation. Tbe Federal' 'IraAe Commission has Even if the federal government does erdlred I one of it<< bureaus to draw up a mme up with some emphatic; warniaga report to help, it' decide whether cigarette against the daagen of amoking,- official eompanies:ahould be;eompelted to inclitde snd definite - it ia likely tlia4 milliods of in their adverttsing, a warning about the Lady Niccotine devotees will eootinne to possible hazarda of cigarette-smoking. indulge; their habit. The Public Health Service is preparing Actualiy,,the U.S. Public Heahh',Serviee a special report for President Kennedy on position for several years has been that the medical evidtmce linking smoking with evidence strongly indicates smoking, is a Cancer. 'Phe: presidest calied, for tne principal cause of lung ea.xer: yet each, medical report after being questioned on ranth'Vy sales report by, the, tobacco ine the subject at a reeent' press conference. dnstty depict5 an,upwardRrend in cigarette, smoking by Americans. (/ up to now . . . we will be no wiser than betore- We _deserve something better t'han an- other lengthy dccument concluding in still apother maybe-yes, maybe-no:, COURIER Svannsville; IndYana June 8) 1ir,152 . Probe of Smo~i~ ! The tobacco companies have: for a long time en- joyed immunity from the sort of Federal regulation imposed by law on drug and food manufacturers. Though the Food and' Drug Administration checks the purity and harmlessnesso'-fhousands of'items in those . categories, no comparable effort,9s made with regard to cigarets. This has seemed inoreasingly curious in recent years as the evidence of a probable link between heavy cigaret smoking and the incidence if lung cancer has mounted. Though reports indicating that such a link probably exists have received wide publicity, there has been i no effective effort to do anything about it. Doing,something does not mean cracking down at Conce on cigarets. Impartial 9nvestigation of the evi- dence, with all due consideration to dfiie bobamo ittdus- try's attempted rebuttalk, should be undertaken. It now appears that this will be done through the cooper- ation of the Federal'Trade Commission and the Public Health,Service. That i's goaL The time has come for an authoritative report. BI?OADrASTING Jtr1;• 2, 1962 More smoke than sense; T 1dI5 is open season for the anti-smoking crusaders, , Medical reports against, cigarette smoking alleging, a cause and effeM:relationship between cigarette smoking,and lung cancer, as,weil as other serious ailments, have caused genuine concern over the nation and abroad. it was inevitable, as the crusade developed;,that adver- tising of toba,co would be condemned. f.egislation has been introduced to prohibiY such advertising.. It was just as inevitable that radio; and television would hear the brunt of the advertisi; g complaint because they happen to be the mosr impressi•:e and' spectacular of the media. ln~ such circumstances there is the tendency to become reckless. Take, for example, the comments of Dr. F. W. King, of the American Cancer Society. He is quotedl as having said that the mass media are reluctant to: communi'• aale knowledge toithe public regarding tobaceo and health because of'their "purehased dependence on the advertising revenues of the tobacco industry." This is an astonishing statement. The anti-smoking ctu- sade has been given great impetus by the very mass,media Dr. King condemns. Radio andl television along with the; printed media have and are covering in detail the medical, reports relating to tobacco and health. These reports are un- biased and authoritative. Moreover, it illi behooves Dr. King to charge that the mass media do not tell the truth on:the spurious ground that they are "kepti~." The A'merican Cancer Society har been given more free time than any of the voluntary health organizations. We venture thaC the $30 i million-plus raised each year by the society is largely the result of'the voluntary, contributions of time and space by, the mass media.