Tobacco Documents Online

~..;O(iforn;a ns for /e~:;4onsrnokers' Rights ~ (f0r.•.'7et:Y Cc. .' ='& rJ' STATE HEAD-QUARTERS P C. Box 668 Berkeley. CA 94701 (415) 841-3032 President - Peter Hcnouer . . Vice Presidents Son Francisco Ravmond L. Weisos: g. M,C Presrdent. Amerrcon Ccnca: Soc,ety. Cctrt.;,rnro urvrsron December 4, 1981 Los Angeles Secretary -Federal Trade Com-nission _ Sixth and Pennsylvian Avenues, NW Doniel H. Lowenstein Professor of Low. UCLA San Diego Peter E. Pool. M.D. Immediote Post Presldent. Arner,can Neart Assoc,ction Ccidornio Auiliot® Washi ngton , D. C. 20580 Re: Fi 1 e 792-3204 Treasurer Stanton ~, Gicntz. PhD. Dear Si r: Executive birector Charles Mawson I am writing you to express Californians for honsmokers''Rights' endorsement of the contents and recommendations in the FTC "Staff Re- Lk..P,.*A,,., port on the Cigarette Advertising Investigation." rrooW Lou.eet® SUPPORT COMMITTEE Californians for Nonsmokers' Rights is a statewide organization Axtel Actorru supported by more than 25,000 contri butors that i s concerned wi th "A>e" SAlomow• MD• Professot of.yred: cfr.e protecting nonsmokers from the harmful effects of cigarette smoke in e,^reru.yorco,r orwme particular and issues of smokirrg and healt.h in general. We have been 13(cl~- organized (under a variety of names) since '1978, when we ran the first P=.oressorore,ocr,~rr„srry Lssler ®resfcw NiP M HA 0 . . . .. f two statewide initiative campaigns on smoking in public places. Prore:sarorPLA V,c)4e,:.rn ..I ' . tll~ We have asked professionals from the University of Califorriia and Jorv% asi°Q°r;- Stanrord University to review the Report, and the consensus is that it c6erceHw« represents the definitive study on the effects and aoal5 of cigarette c1*Cr"c^~40''o^ - , 7advertising, the surprising public ignorance of the harmful effects of a`E,,,® ~,Pres;a,nr smoking, and the need for a better system of warning the public about L-A PaLi-vkrut,rur, the dangers of.srraking. . 'r°"K•Jo"OS * . t•:etbbs P. Knkes. M.D. The finding that the public is not as well informed about'the• daneers of smoking as one would expect is an extremely important one, since smoking represents the major avoidable cause of disease in the United States. Our experience in running two initiative campaigns on smoking-related issues in California supports the statistical results in the Report. We routinely encountered people who downplayed the HONORA)7Y CHAlRPERSOh Gcsr arat;c+snt. . Ccurorruo heec: colAssoca'atron Nrre KronenDerO Doris end Rict+crd Laono(d I MiChoel MoCJoskey Executive Ltirector s;erro Ck~b Jarr+as P. MeLoupnFrt Pcst Presraent - medical evidence that smoking is dangerous. At the time we thought we ,,~",or,rs~~~~ were dealing with unusually poorly informed -or recalcitrant individu- R«,r,ck,,,g als; but, as the Report so convincingly demonstrates, we were simply 5--o mite-a& encountering a widespread ignorance concerning the ill effects•of ~~,~`;P".°' s rno k i n g. Mervyn F. Savermon M.D_ tvLPH Mector of r.ecm We found the discussion of cigr arette advertisin com ellin ,, es- S°r'Fro~,csco g r~ ~ pic:~ord d 5rsreu:x~r pecially pages 2-15 through 2-24, rhich dealt with specific efforts PcstPre.:0ant by Brown and Williamson to induce young people to start smoking and 'nw)`c"L""9"uDCjnor' Rev. Dr. J. Attred Srrrth to'keep them smoking despjte the fact that smokers real ize that their T,~xorea sn,aar,x. behavior is fundamentally irrational. xstPre.uc®nt SerrII Cu5 It ' Gcry Ft Spwey. M.D. M.PtL Arsocacre Prortssor of ElYaerr. oJp LCL1 Lurr+e* Terry. M.D. U.S. ScXgecvf raa++®rcC SC3i•Lf•ds -- TIMN 0068086 Pe~lo ~^~~ ~ ~ -- C~~:.~SS~?'~.~L~x^C'r~r3~T~'VL.•..~._' :

~~IJ096•- cretary, Federal Trade Cor=,ission nonsiqikers to smokers b t onl v to .in f 1 '' u y recent de- velopmenLS ~ n the in n ma_ es, in particular women's maoazines, for adverti ing. By its own admission, the inau o~men as a vu neraoie,group. A front-page article in the September.28, 1°81, Advertising Age titled "Women Top Cigarette Target" quotes Gerald H. Lon-g, President and Chief Executive Officer of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, as describing the women's market as "probably the largest opportunity for Reynolds." Reproductive risks are increased in women who smoke and lung cancer rates are increasing so dramat- ically that it will soon become the number one cancer killer among females in,the United States, a trend due virtually entirely to cigarette smoking. Yet, the`number of pages of magazine advertising devoted to images of attractive, healthy-looking young women in cigarette promotions has increased radically over the past decade. for example, Be.tter Homes and Gardens, the fourth ranking magazine in total circulation in the U.S. in 1980, now averages 15 full pages of cigarette ads per monthly issue. . These advertiserents present a powe'rful message as'sociating smoking with vigor, youth, and health, a message, that clearly•conflicts with the realities of suffering and death fhat accompany smoking. The present abstract warning message stands•little chance of having an impact in'this context. In addition, since reading the Report, I have taken note of how the warning is'located on the advertisements in a visually iso- lated place. The layout of the ad always moves your eye away from.the warning to a -2- Jecember 4, 1981 .The claim of cioarette manufacturer-, ` dvertisino is otr~ inteoded to c vert ___3part ofe the ad-that-.gresents--smoking-as--a positive expe-rience-:°This-effect contrasts'--- `%i-===?sharply with the arrow and circle design suggested in the Report-that always attracted attention to the important health message it contained. All the recommendations are sound and should be implemented as soon as 'possible. We would-suggest, however, that you also,include waroiings that address the danger of smoking-to nonsmokers.' k'e suggest this for two reasons. First, as the enclosed bibliography and the discussion of invo.luntary smoking in the recent National•Adademy of Sciences/National Research Council report Indoor Pollutants (National Academy Press, 1981) demonstrate, th~re is a significant body of scienti ic evidence associating so-called passive smoking with danger to nonsmokers. Secbnd, concern about non- smokers' rights may be the most effective way to reduce the amount of smoking. .fls_q th~T~~'~~'~ Tnctit>>t€~'S 1j78~ P~4r ~'„ ~F ~IIr•,p`i, L~+e~leve-Ic~-n^t nf tha nonsmokers' . to the rotational warning system: righ s movement is "'' ~ t_, .. _ ~ Ta L L viability of the tobacco industrv that h~~ •~~t nrrurred." The Tobacco Institute's recent nat~ona advertising canpaign to discredit work'by Hirayama (published in the British t•Sedica1 Journal in January, 1981), that demonstrated that nonsmoking wives of smoking husbands had an increased incidence of lung cancer, is powerfui,evidence that the tobacco industry is concerned about growing public knowledge that.passive smoking is harmful. There- fore, we would like to suggest that you add one or more of the.following warnings WARNING: Your.smoke hurts people with heart dise4se.' WARNING: Your smoke hurts nonsmokers. WARNING: Your smoke hurts your children. WARNING: Nonsmokers i nhal e pa.i sons from your srioke. - ~. ~ . . . ..- r .~.. ~ 3 i. TIMN 0068087

M '. 0100V7 Secretary, Federal Trade Corrunission -3- December 4, 1981 If we can provide any additional information, please call on me. Sincerely yours, A --~~" L-- ~ G / Stanton A. Glantz, Ph.D. Treasurer Associate Professor of Medicine University of California, San Francisco SAG/mh Enclosure cc: Cal'ifornia Coneressional,DeleQation