Tobacco Documents Online

, „_. . Y ,_ . , . , , o L~~n Prove , o o Research Aide Sd +.-'-~: 'S~4 ft Much more knowledge about assumption of an all-or-none a number of years , Ragland industryshould remove , some- ; , cancer especially lung cancer, authoritative position' in re- said, "and we see nothing new thing 'haa~mful' from tobacco is necessary before a positive gard to the smoking theory." in what they say today, ex- that nobody knows is there." onclusion about ut its cause or ` c'We do not tlunk'" Hartnett cept more guesswork and op~ ' oauses can be established, T. continued, "that the present ion. • ~ V. Hartnett said today. campaign of repeating the anti- "They are admitted W H• ~• ly on an H•~• Clalr~ls Hartnett is chairman of the smoking theories of the exsmoking crusadd CCaret~S Ae r - anti-e an con. igtrTobacco Industry Research tremists will ever constitute tinue to insist that their ideas Committee which is financing proof of the charges they make are right even when a gret ,a ill.'adependent scientific re- against smoking." -deai of other scientific evidence Cause Of Cancer ~ searoh into health problems, and opinion does not back " Sees 'Nothing New' " mcluding lung cancer. them up }~ * ' ti,s comment, in a~ ;t r F r+, ;Geneva, March 29 (&9-The His prepared in Washington, Edward F•Ced "T Et' World Health Organization said ~.arnoxreme efwtemenR, was -directed at Ragland vice-President of the n !;yesterday cigarette smoking is ,, charges brought by scientists Tobacco Institute, Inc., re- "Talk about a"saSe" ciga- a major cause of lung cancer: attending the American Can- ferred specifically to a story rette, R:agiand said, "is not new ` In its first formally ex- cer Society seminar for science by Alton Blakeslee, science from them either, but what is pressed opinion on the subject, writers, being held here, that writer for the Associated Press new is the admission out of the 85 aation organization re- _ cigarette smoking is a predomi.- which appears on this page to- this same conference, bhat they ported responsible scientific nant cause of lung cancer. day, do not know of any compounds Opinion is agreed on cigarette Opinions Differ Blakeslee quoted several re- present in cigarette smoke in smoking as the main factor. ,; search scientists who subscribe sufficieat amounts to aceount Critics of this view have We do not believe it is fair to th theory eory that lung cancer for lung cancer" «t ::.-raised some interestin '~ " . tfl the general public or to Q g pO1n~' gS ~ those connected with tlre ~, is caused by smoking. x~ r."The anti-smoking campaibn buty have failed to cast any bacco industry . , . to permit extreme and unproved charges to go unchallenged," Hartnett said. "Many doctars and sci- entists simply do not Agree that the lung-cancer questioa has been sebt'led." . For example, he said, "The Journal of the American Medi- cal Association recently stated in an editorial there is not 'suf- ficient evidence to warrant the "These same men have been is -being carried to an ex- speculating about their theo- treme," he continued, "when ries of cigarette smoking for the idea is advanced that the A six-year study of more lhan 1,000,000 Americans, now '..under_ way by the society, ex- amining many health factors and habits, may show whether those who switch to the "safer" cigarettes actually live longer, Dr. Hammond told a seminar for science writers being held in Louisville. Dr. Hammond is one who is convinced cigarette smoking is "the principali cause" of lung cancer now: Despite all recent warnings,, cigarette sales are at a new high, but perhaps the yyarning hasn't fallen on, deaf ears be- cause sales of filter-tipped and low-tar, low-nicotine cigarettes have increased tremiendmrs+ly, Wants Content Labeled Dr. Hammond' said, "It ap- pears the majority of Ameri- cans want to smoke, but they want to do so without running the risk of lung cancer or any of the other diseases associated with cigarette smoking." By ALTON BLAKESLEE Areci•ted •r•at WrIMr : -. ~~ . ~._•...- . "Safer" cigarettes may already be on the market, and a cancer researcher says he hopes to learn if they are really safe. These safer smokes may be those containing only one- fourth the nicotine and one-half the tar content of standard :non-filter cigarettes, said Dr. E. Cuyler Hammond, director of ~r .#.- °' rtatistical research for the American Cancer Society •,_: ^, Safer cigarettes would at least reduce the ctangers he's worried about, scientists said. Dr. Hammond declared cig- arette manufacturers should be "required to make known the tar and nicotine corntent' of their brand." He said that "having a high' regard for individual freedom, I would be opposed to the pro- hibition of cigarettes even if -it would work." Dr. Oscar Auerbach, a pathol- ogist who has made a special study of lung tissues, declared, "I have never seen a man w'ho died of squamous or oat cell cancer di the lung-nor has anyone else shown me a ease of this kindJln the last three and a half years who was not a smoker." Squamous and oat cell types of cancer account for the ma- jority of lung cancers, said Dr: Auerbach, who is with the Vet- erans Administr-Aion at East Orange, N.J. sas rtioso DR. E. CUYLER HAMMOND Cancer research' pushed serious doubt on the conclu- sion, W.H.O. said in a report on the causes of lung cancer. >