Daily Doc: TI, Apr 24, 1990: Public smoking Programs of the TI
Daily Doc: Public smoking Programs of the TI
Title: Public Smoking Programs of the Tobacco Institute
TI, Apr 24, 1990
Bates #: TIDN0025948/5957
March 13, 2000
It's well known that tobacco smoke is harmful to health, so just how did the tobacco industry manage to convince so much of the public that secondhand smoke is harmless? It was accomplished in part through the comprehensive efforts of the Tobacco Institute (TI), as described in this document, Public Smoking Programs of the Tobacco Institute. With a great sense of purpose and virtually unlimited budget, the TI left no stone unturned its work to alter public opinion. According to this document, the TI recruited academics "to influence the scientific community's view of ETS science," imported foreign scientists to convince health reporters and editorial boards that "the U.S. response to ETS science is extreme and out of step with the rest of the world...," "chastised" journalists for their reporting on scientific issues and hosted journalism seminars to show reporters the "right" way to report on these issues, and more.
Since the tobacco industry lacked credibility, they attempted to join more credible organizations to get their point across. Problem was, the tobacco industry was shunned, even by organizations that could easily share their views about secondhand smoke. This is reflected in this remarkable passage about an organization that Big Tobacco wanted to work with, called the Business Council on Indoor Air (BCIA):
"Tobacco is not and must not be visible in this organization; the chemical companies whose involvement is critical to BCIA's credibility have indicated that they would not participate if tobacco were involved."But even when organizations like BCIA consciously tried to avoid Big Tobacco, Big Tobacco still found ways to influence them by moving to a more personal level:
"We were able to influence BCIA through our consultants and through personal relationships with its executive director."Between the programs mentioned in this document and the numerous front groups and projects the Tobacco Industry employed to obscure the truth about the effects of secondhand smoke (the Whitecoat Project, the ETS Consultant Project, Associates for Research in Indoor Air, The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, the National Smokers Alliance, Associates for Research In Substance Enjoyment, Healthy Buildings International and more), we see that the tobacco industry embarked on what just could be the most vast, expensive, highly orchestrated and deeply involved global corporate effort ever in history to convince people to ignore the deadly effects of a product.
Imagine where we might be might be today if just a fraction of this money and effort had been spent on health education instead.
CITATION
Title: Public Smoking Programs of the Tobacco Institute
Type of Document: Report, confidential
Author: N/A (corporate author, Tobacco Institute)
Date: 19900424
Page Count: 10
Site: Tobacco Institute Document Site http://www.tobaccoinstitute.com/
Bates No.: TIDN0025948/5957
URL of entire document: http://www.tobaccoinstitute.com/getallimg.asp?DOCID=TIDN0025948/5957
URL of first page: (for better printing, print it page by page) http://www.tobaccoinstitute.com/getimg.asp?pgno=0&start=0&bool=Public%20smoking%20programs%20of%20the%20tobacco%20institute&docid=TIDN0025948/5957&docnum=1
Litigation usage: Texas AG trial exhibit
QUOTES
I. Consulting Scientists on ETS and Indoor Air Quality
A. Academics - TI now has 14 academic scientists on ETS...all faculty members of prestigious universities and medical schools. Their mission is to influence the scientific community's view of ETS science. They will testify before Congress and important regulatory agencies at the state and federal level, publish articles in the scientific literature, and actively participate in scientific conferences on ETS...
II. Additional Approaches to Carry the Industry's views on ETS to the General Media
...B. Foreign Scientists. This strategy is to bring a "foreign" perspective on ETS science to U.S. journalists through the use of the industry's overseas consulting scientists. Through editorial board briefings and interviews with science and health reporters, these scientists will suggest that the U.S. understanding of ETS science is skewed by anti-smoker media hype, and that the U.S. response to ETS science is extreme and out of step with the rest of the world....
III. Journalistic Integrity on ETS and Other Controversial Science and Health Matters
A. Educational Outreach. This program is designed to educate science and health reporters on the nuts and bolts of ETS science. The objective of this strategy is to assist regular reporters on ETS issues and to project The Institute as an "honest broker" with respect to scientific information on ETS. The foundation of this effort is...a detailed briefing book examining the major literature on ETS epidemiology...as a limited scientific discipline, and the reports....purporting to link ETS and various health effects. The briefing book will be...an easy-to-use reference guide and will be written using lay terms and style. Once it is completed, it will be distributed to reporters systematically through one-on-one briefings....
B. Criticize Science Reporting. This program involves "chastising" the journalism community for its handling of controversial scientific issues, including ETS....The focal point of this effort will be an article authored by a respected member of the journalism community and published in a major journalism review...the article will describe deficiencies in science reporting, the politicization of science...and journalists' responsibility to...clarify issues and not to add to public confusion and fear....
IV. Scientific Integrity on ETS and Other Controversial Science and Health Matters...
B. Expose the Anti-Tobacco Industry. This project is designed to...publicize the anti-tobacco "industry," particularly the work of anti-tobacco scientists. The objective is to show that political agendas bias the work of these scientists, and that they actively strive to squelch the views of dissenting scientists...
C. Business Council on Indoor Air (BCIA). The Business Council on Indoor Air, or BCIA, is a small but increasingly prominent trade group which promotes a ventilation or building systems approach--rather than pollutant-by-pollutant source control -- to mitigate indoor air pollution. BCIA's membership includes several firms that consult for TI and a few major chemical companies. Tobacco is not and must not be visible in this organization; the chemical companies whose involvement is critical to BCIA's credibility have indicated that they would not participate if tobacco were involved. We were able to influence BCIA through our consultants and through personal relationships with its executive director. Through BCIA, we are able to present a credible business perspective on indoor air quality issues.
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Anne Landman, Regional Program Coordinator
American Lung Association of Colorado, West Region Office
Grand Junction, CO
(970) 245-2120
afoxland@gj.net
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