Tobacco Documents Online

tobacco R .E - _P '0 ~R -T :R PASSPOR7 0 By Colleen Zimmerman Blackard S cott Ballin is passionately anti- tobacco. When he talks about it, his eyes widen, his hands move, and the intensity of his voice fluctuates louder, softer, faster, slower. He's enthusiastic. And among the antis I met, he seems perhaps most sincere about what he believes in. Stamping out tobacco use ("without banning the product," he emphasizes) appears to be his quest. Scott Ballin has worked for the American Heart Association since 1978. He is currently chairing the Coalition on Smoking OR Health (COSH). It was COSH's petitions that sparked Food & Drug Administration Com- missioner Dr. David A. Kessler's contro- versial letter of Feb. 25, 1994, wherein Kessler left little doubt where he stood on tobacco issues. There's no question how Scott Ballin feels on tobacco, either. Following, Ballin on myriad tobacco- related issues: ON CONGRESS. If it never existed before, and I invented tobacco and ciga- rettes today, there's no way Congress would ever allow them on the market. Congress is the worst place [for tobacco regulation]. No other product is regulated by Congress. Why should tobacco be? ON SUPPORTING FDA AUTHORITY OF TOBACCO. In the last 30 to 40 years, all health and safety laws have exempted tobacco. There's always been a narrow exemption for tobacco. I think [the industry's disapproval of FDA regulation] also reflects concern over product liability litigation. FDA jurisdiction would be legitimizing all claims that tobacco is addictive and that the industry knew it and withheld that information from the public. ON CHOICE. The industry has always said, Give people information and let them decide whether to smoke or not. Why do they keep information sealed and confidential? If they believed what they said, they would allow informa- tion to be available. ON INTENT. It occurred to us in 1988 that the tobacco industry was making false claims regarding low tar and low nicotine cigarettes. In fact, our surveys show most people switch to low tar and nicotine cigarettes because they believe they are safer and less addictive. The advertisements for low tar and low nicotine cigarettes are a means of showing vendor intent.... That's what first led us in the direction of having all cigarettes regulated by the FDA. If the industry is controlling nico- tine and using it as a marketing advan- tage, that shows intention again. Documents released to the public in the Cipollone case gave us better insight into what the tobacco industry had been doing for years. Last year's congressional hearings gave us a wealth of information about the indus- try's true "intent." All these things began to point a finger; they're not just chopping up tobacco and blending it like they've been saying. They were developing new techniques to control products' tar and nicotine levels. Once they did that, they crossed the statutory line. They were legally and technically in the "drug" business. ON A VOLUNTARY AGREEMENT. We saw the same actions in 1964. They say, Trust us, we don't want kids to smoke either. Action Against Access? It's a rehash of all the things they've said before. Is it enforceable? No. But it looks great on paper. ON PROHIBITION. We're advocating common-sense standards. We don't want a ban. There's nothing in our offi- cial pronouncements that has said ban cigarettes. It's a myth used over and over again by the tobacco industry, and it's just not true. There are more than 40 million Americans who smoke, and the majori- ty are addicted. To say to them we're taking away your cigarettes tomorrow, well, from a medical standpoint that would be the wrong thing to do. There's no health support system to assist them. Creation of a support sys- tem introduces many questions. Who pays for it? How is it created? ON FDA COMMISSIONER KESSLER. I don't think Dr. Kessler is obsessed with the issue. His devotion comes from what he's up against. Because he's deal- ing with the tobacco companies, he has to dot every "i" or cross every "t." If Kessler is perceived to be obsessed, it's only because the industry is obsessed. TR