Tobacco Documents Online

Ir ' TR1lBUIfE' South Bend, Indiana June 12, 1962 Timely and Appropriate The U. S. Public Health Service is pre• Faring a new' "eomprehensive review" of the sn>q Lng-and-health ~ eontmversy. Surgeon General, Luther L. Terry promises to make recotnmendations' ap• propriate to the findings of'a committee he;will appoint'to study and evalilate the evidence collected about the effects of I smoking. The Tobacco Institute says it' wel- comes the study. "Such an impartial' study is both timely' and appropriate," said George V. Allen„institute president,. "in,view of the recent'flurffyof'attention to the subject." - We heartily agriee with the surgeon general and Mr. Allen that such a study is timely and appropriate. It' will be well for, the public to have The Health Service did, of course, ex- presa'its views on the subject In 1559:, Then Surgeon General LeRoy Burney said at'that'time that "the weight of evi- dence" implicates smoking, particularly cigarette smoking, as the: principal I fae~ tor in thp increasing incidence of lung cancer. The cigarette Industry took exception+ contending such a link hasn't been proved. Statistics show that lung cancerc among, males has risen from ~,8 per. 10%000 In 1930 tb 34.8. Surely this suggests'that a new studyy and evaluation of evidence by the PHS is in order. The public should have an updated and impartial opinion from the Public Health Service to help It decide what'to do about smoking; an updated opinion from the Public Health Service In this matter. MEIDICAl, TRIBLTlE June 18, 1962' Cof~'in~ Nail's Once Again S TaNNGE AS IT MAY'SEEM, it~ isAnlyin the recent past that'the Federal Trade Commission succeededlin banning,actual health clainu in cigarette advertising. Cur. rently, the FTC' is considering, the re- quirement for "affirmative disclosure" " in advertising, of health hazards associated with cigarette smokingtatherthan merely the absence of health claims. According to an article in Science; it'is the intense promotional effort made by cigarette manufacturers on college cam- puses to attract young smokers that is of particular concern to the FTC. It should be. The habit is readily established and; once established, more difficult to 6e quitt of than were Job's boils. And the incessant messages, on television and radio, in mag- azines and newspapers, would lead one to believe that abandoning cigarette smoking must simultaneously destroy all such ela ments of' attractiveness: as one possessed for the opposite sex; do,away with all ath- letic ability and skill, and'forever end all chance of adventure. Cigarette, manufacturers understand very well that the most critical audience for successful indoctrination is the youth of our country, The medical profession must demonstrate equal;acumen, It is our younger people who must' be convinced by physicians that cigarette smoking is a perniciously detrimental habit. In a,pre- vious editorial ("Coffin Nails," May 28, 1962), the point was made that whether or not cigarette smoking has been~proved to be a cause,of bronchogenic carcinoma is almost irrelevant since there is no doubt at all l that cigarette smoking is seriously detrimental~ to many aspects of personal health:. We repeat: The role oj, the physi- cian includes the: practice of preventive medicine, and his responsibility here is clear and avident:. 'Coffin Nails" anfd Cancer' Medical authorities' apparently are becoming more widely and fully con- vinced that there is'a' close connection between heavy cigaret sM21ting and long,cancer. So the announced decision of the United States public health serv- ice to have a competent committee make a comprehensive review, of'the evidence is welcome. A strong indictment of cigarets by a, eommittee, of' British doctors caused quite a flurry recently. The doctors said that heavy use of cigarets was a probable cause of'lung cancer andlmay be responsible for cancers in mouth. throat and bladder. The British taised the already high cigaret tax, moved to set up some anti- smoking, clinics and campaigns, espc-,. cially to discourage smoking among young children. Early smoking, has been increasing in, Hnglandias it has here and i health authorities are proper- ly worried about how to check it.. There was talk about banning, or at leasr restricting cigaret advertising:. Nobody can, say just how' much a strong report, such as that of'the Brit, ish doctors, will do toward changing any nation's smoking habits perma- nently: Nor is there anything very new' in the charge that' the little whitc tempters may induce disease and early' death. Forty years ago andlmore they were popularly referred to as "coffin nails." Nevertheless, people are entitledl to get a full, unbiased estimate of what- ever risk modem science has revealed. If; as informed adults, they then choose to ignore danger warmings to enjoy what Oscar' Wilde called "the perfecti type of a perfect'pleasure;" that is still their privilege. Nobody, to our knowl- edge, ever committed assault or drove recklessly because he was,undtr the influence of tobacco.