Tobacco Documents Online

COiDRAPT' - Prowidence, Rhodt' Island ,.: Jtane 12, 1962 JIO(fftNAL ~~Gowe~rnunent, ~ Enters. the~ 1ist's~~: of ~~ an Ancient Debate ~ The United States.Public Plealth Service is reopening,an ancient de- bate with its new investigation of' the risks of' " In 1620. To ias Venner wrote;: "Tobacco drieth the brainl dim- meth the sight, vitiateth the smell, burdeth the stomach, destroyieth the concoction, disturbeth the hu- mors andl spirits, corrupteth the breath, induceth a trembling of the limbs, cxsiccateth the windpipe, lungs and liver,,annoyeth themilt„ scorcheth the heart, and causeth, the blood''to be adjusted." Retorted Robert' Burton„the fo1-, lowing year: "Divine„rare, super-excellent , to- baceo ... goes far'beyond all thee panaceas, potable go1dJ pbiloso- pher's stones, (and) is a, sovereign remedy to all diseases:" . Ben Johnson said tobacco was `good for nothing but to choke a man, and fill him full of smoke and embers."' /w3s 3 772 G~ Hartford, Connecticut June 11, 1962 Yirr and h'efiormers - When President Kennedy droppcd 1 by the Senate chamber reeently, on his way to a cocktailiparty that opened a new room in the Capitol, Senator Wayne Morse was tilting vigorously at the service of'uquor fn the public rooms of the C9pitnl. And now comes Sen- ator Maurine Neuherger calling on the President to "reduce the cigarettee epidemic"' byspecifically re- quiringg that cigarette . advertising warn, thee smokerr that smoking is unsafe. So far the Federal Trade Commission has passed the,tiuck to the Public Health Service„which has yet tn make an outright . decision on c,jgarettes. But't the . interesting point is that each of'these Senators is rid- inq a different hob'by, One declaims on the evils of I drink while the otheris sensitive,to the dangers in' cigarette smoking:. There is no reformer so zealous, they say; as a i refornud!drunkard, nr lhe,man who has given up cig- arettea. '[h'ese often become pestx in their effort6 to, get their fellow man to travel the same course: In their resp~clive crusades Senators Morse and Neu. engar rrrerely ahmw th't they are like other people. ~ht most folk,holtl to the4heory tha[a completely an- tiseptic life, with no small vices, can indeed be a dull one. iniany event these are things that'should be left strictlyto the ieuiividual, likechoo.cing a wife. Wheth- er fnrenodlnr ill, the.persnn who benefits or suffers shnudil make . the . deciainn without interference . from anylindi•, mcluding Senators. But Charles Kingsley praised the weed as "a l'one man's companion, a bachelor's friend, a hungry man's , food, a sad, man's cordial,, a wake- ful man's sleep„and a chilly man's fire.':" The argument took a more seri- ous turn about a decade ago when, science joinedlthe attack on tobac- co, particularly on cigarette smok- ing„The American Cancer Society reported a detailed study' hadl re- vealedia link between smoking andd cancer. Dr. Dean F. Davies, execu- tive secretary of the society told a, Rhode Islandl gathering several years ago: "We estimate that three-fourths of all lung cancer deaths are asso- ciated, with cigarette smoking, "History may show that cigarette smoking is the most insidious of' our personal habits." " Statistics show that smoking is also a persistent habit, Despite II+ITERPRISE' B;caumoot, Texas Tune,9, 19062 Smoking, and Health WEagree with Sim;eoni Gencral! Luther, L.Terrythat again "it istimelyto~undertake a rnmprehensivee review of'.atlavailab'le data" on the question of whether smokingg hass any, impact nn health. The, main idea, o[ course, is : In de- termine whether.thePublic.ffealth Service should make any recommmtdAtions relating, to the pos• sibie role of'smddng in the mounting incidence of lung eance.r. An advisory committee will , be set up to study the evidettce, evaluate it, and pru pnse whatever steps are deemed appropriate. In 1959, Dr, Leroy E. Burton, then surgeon general, conclJtded that'the weight of'evidence,impiieated smoking as tlie principal causative factor in the Increar;e or lung eaneer. The Publio HealthiSetv- ire's position has not been changed since, that time. widespread publicity of the warn- ings of' health authorities duringg the late Fifties, cigarette smoking, in!the United States dipped only briefly, then continued, its long- term steady climb.,Per capita eon- sumption of cigarettes in the coun- try tn 1960 reached an all-time high, almost double the consump- tion in 1940.:The tobacco industry' today'in the United States is a bil- lion-dollar industry, and the man- ufacture of cigarettes is one of'the most profitable , of' investatents. This may be why President Ken. nedy kept himself out of a direct part,in the investigation, turning the problem,over to Surgeon Gen- eral Luther L. Terry of the health serviae. The health service said it' will set up,an expert' advisory com- mittee which wiMmake "a compre- hensive review" of'the accumulated evidence. American government action fol- lows close on the heels of a report last March from:the British Royal College of Surgeons. The report said smoking "is a cause of lung cancer" and probabHy a contribut- ingfactor,to other diseases'sueh as heart disease, bronchitis and tuber- culosis. The British report has received wide publicity in England and!Eu- roYe. British manufacturers have promised tn keep advertising off television except on late night pro- g;arns when youngsters are normal= ly in bed. The government has launehed':an extensive edncational campaign, direvied principally at y,outh, against sr.toking: Italy has outlawedlall tobacco advertising. It appears that the followers of Tobias' Venner are gctting the best of the argument. But' human nature being what it is; there probably still will be those who will say, "amen'.' to William Cowper's- "Tobacco was not' known in the Golden Age. "So much the worse for the Golden Age." t I