FEDERAL

FOREIGN TOBACCO LIMIT ENDANGERING GATT NEGOTIATIONS
SMOKING BAN STYMIED BY HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS HEAD
SMOKING CONGRESS MEMBERS
REVOLVING DOOR OF CONGRESS
SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS TO BENEFIT FROM TOBACCO TAX HIKE
GATT TURMOIL CONTINUES
CLINTON ANNOUNCES PROPOSED TOBACCO TAXES

HEALTH

RACE AND LUNG CANCER FINDING

LOCAL ISSUES

ILLINOIS FINDS TAX INCREASE YIELD HIGHER THAN EXPECTED
CALIFORNIA TOBACCO TAX TO FUND BREAST CANCER PREVENTION
BOUGHT-AND-PAID-FOR TOBACCO INFLUENCE WORKS
NO LOSS OF BUSINESS FOUND IN SMOKEFREE RESTAURANTS

INTERNATIONAL

SMOKER WITH HERNIA DENIED SURGERY
BRITISH LIKE NON-SMOKING SECTIONS
AUSTRALIAN COURT RULES PASSIVE SMOKING NO RISK
BULGARIA'S TURKISH TOBACCO TURMOIL
CIGARETTES IN CHINA
TOBACCO EPIDEMIC GROWING WORLDWIDE

THE TOBACCO BUSINESS

PHILIP MORRIS GAINS ON BIG BOARD
TOBACCO INSTITUTE CUTTING 40% OF STAFF, MOST OFFICES

SOCIETY

FREEDOM AIR RISES
LATE NIGHT SMOKING NEWS
SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS INVESTING
ASTHMATIC CHILD REMOVED FROM SMOKING MOTHER'S HOME
STUDY FINDS TV TOBACCO USE ON RISE
DRUG ABUSE STUDY DOCUMENTS DAMAGE

SPORTS

RACE CARS TO CARRY SMOKELESS TOBACCO HEALTH WARNINGS?
WOMAN KILLS WOMAN WHO COMPLAINED ABOUT HER SMOKING.

EDITORIAL

FEDERAL

FOREIGN TOBACCO LIMIT ENDANGERING GATT NEGOTIATIONS

The US is being atacked over the provision slipped into Clinton's deficit bill (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993) that holds the use of foreign tobacco in domestically produced cigarettes to 25%. This has hurt GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) negotiations. Eight countries (Canada, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Thailand and Zimbabwe) and the European Community have filed a formal protest.

According to an indepth article by Michael Janofsky in the New York Times, the "little-noticed provision", spearheaded by Senator Wendell Ford (D-KY)--Philip Morris' #1 recipient of political contributions in the last election campaign--and Rep. Charlie Rose (D-NC), helps two parties:

1. Tobacco farmers are helped, temporarily. But the provision also makes it more attractive to produce cigarettes overseas, where a higher percentage of cheap foreign tobacco can be used, and cigarettes can be manufactured with cheap foreign labor.

2. Philip Morris, which is the only US company rich enough to be making major financial investments in manufacturing facilities in middle Europe, China and Kazakhstan, is the main beneficiary. As manufacturing moves offshore, accelerated by this provision, Philip Morris is excellently positioned to be independent of US plants, labor and regulations.

Three years ago Thailand, in an effort to prevent American cigarettes from being imported and advertised, attempted a similar regulation. Some at that time felt the U.S. tobacco industry wanted to undermine Thailand's official anti-smoking campaign and to glamorize smoking among youth and women. They cited what happened in three other Asian countries--Japan, South Korea and Taiwan--where U.S. cigarette brands gained market access. The US strongly protested Thailand's restrictions to a GATT panel, and Thailand was forced to back down.

Many feel the US provision, besides creating rancor among the GATT negotiators trying to conclude an agreement by Dec. 15, will be rebuffed as Thailand's was. Janofsky closes his NY Times article: "Back then one of those leading the charge against Thailand was the Democratic Senator from Kentucky, Mr. Ford"

PS: readers of Tobacco News will remember this posting from 9/13:

"Recently, during negotiations on Clinton's deficit control bill, tobacco-oriented lawmakers had argued that a limit on the use of imported tobacco should be placed in the bill. Representative Charles Rose (D-NC) in defending the idea, pointed to the $1 to $2 proposed cigarette tax and said, "we can live with that special treatment...if we get a little special treatment on imports." The deficit control bill now limits the use of tobacco imports in domestically produced cigarettes to 25%."

SMOKING BAN STYMIED BY HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS HEAD

A proposed smoking ban in all buildings on Capitol HIll, which passed the House by a unanimous voice vote, apears likely to die in conference due to the adamant opposition of House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. William Natcher of Kentucky.

SMOKING CONGRESS MEMBERS

In a survey in which only 18 of all 535 offices on Capitol Hill failed to respond, Roll Call found that only 19 members of Congress smoke cigarettes--18 Congressmen and 1 Senator.

Here is a list of cigarette smoking members of Congress:

Sen. Wendell Ford (D-KY)
Rep. Herb Bateman (R-VA)
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA)
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)
Rep. Leslie Byrne (D-VA)
Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-AL)
Rep. Julian Dixon (D-CA)
Rep. Bill Emerson (R-MO)
Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-NY)
Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN)
Rep. Dean Gallo (D-NJ)
Rep. Mel Hancock (R-MO)
Rep. Gerald Kleczka (D-WI)
Rep. Bill Lipinski (D-IL)
Rep. Mike Parker (D-MS)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Rep. Bob Smith (R-OR) 3,
Rep. Karen Thurman (D-FL)
Rep. Harold Volkmer (D-MO)

Rep. Charlie Taylor's (R-NC) policy is: "We thank you for smoking."

Thanks to Joe Cherner's Smokefree Educational Services newsletter for covering this story.

REVOLVING DOOR OF CONGRESS

October 8, 1993. Ex-Rep. Robin Tallon, R-S.C., has come under scrutiny for his post-government-service activities. His actions in his new position as a senior consultant to the Tobacco Institute have spurred a renewed interest in what's known on the Hill as the "revolving door," whereby ex-government officials go directly from congress to special-interest lobbying groups. The groups often are involved in areas once regulated by their new employees. A recent bill, the Ethics Reform Act is supposed to prohibit ex-congresspeople from direct lobbying activities for a year after their terms have ended.

But Mr. Tallon, along with a delegation of tobacco industry lobbyists, paid a visit on March 22 to his successor of only three months, Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C. The delegation presented a slide show on ventilation improvements as an alternative to indoor smoking bans. Tallon suggested the show be presented at upcoming hearings for the proposed house smoking ban.

A recent report by Public Citizen identified 98 senior government officials who had left their federal jobs last year to join a lobby, and specifically cites the Tallon incident as a "profile in chutzpah" that indicates that the bill has few teeth. Rep. Tallon has said that he didn't feel he was breaking the law as he himself didn't directly call for any legislative action.

"When special interest lobbying groups gobble up members of Congress, Capitol Hill aides and executive branch officials, they literally are buying access to government decision makers," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen.

President Clinton has issued an executive order barring his policy makers from lobbying for five years. A bill, sponsored by Sen. David Boren, D-Okla, which proposes a similar ban for members of Congress appears to be languishing.

SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS TO BENEFIT FROM TOBACCO TAX HIKE

October 9, 1993. Government officials pointed out Friday that since social security benefits are tied to the consumer price index, a 75 cent raise on the cigarette tax would result in a .5% rise in the inflation index for the year it was enacted. By the end of the year, the average social security beneficiary would see a $35 annual raise in payments, a raise that cannot be taken away.

GATT TURMOIL CONTINUES

Talks between foreign tobacco-producing countries and the US over the new law that limits imported tobacco to 25% of domestically-produced cigarettes have failed. Now it appears Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Thailand will ask for a GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ) panel to rule on the dispute.

The tobacco-exporting countries find the US law an unfair trade practice on two grounds:

1. During the Uruguay Round of the delicate GATT negotiations, participants had pledged not to raise trade barriers while talks were going on.

2. GATT Article 3 clause 5 prohibits countries from specifying a domestic/foreign ratio in regards to raw material.

The countries, along with Canada and the European Community, filed a formal protest in September. Talks in early October broke down when the US appeared unprepared to discuss the issue. The countries have asked the US to respond in writing. If the answer is not satisfactory, the countries involved will seek a GATT ruling.

The US law under discussion was tucked into Clinton's budget deficit bill (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993), and helped assure the support of tobacco-state legislators on that bill. It specifies that cigarettes made in the US must consist of at least 75% domestic tobacco. As the prime tobacco market appear to be growing overseas, many feel the law will actually hurt US tobacco growers by accelerating the move to overseas production. According to this view, the law hurts domestic growers and manufacturers--and GATT negotiations. Should the law remain, there is fear the insulted countries may retaliate with restrictions on other US exports. The only beneficiary of the law would be Philip Morris, which is well-positioned to capitalize on its overseas production capabilities.

CLINTON ANNOUNCES PROPOSED TOBACCO TAXES

Oct. 29, 1993. President Clinton announced plans for a 75¢ increase in cigarette taxes, plus huge increases in cigar and smokeless tobacco taxes. This would bring the federal tax on cigarettes to 99¢/pack, and will provide $65 billion of the $389 billion needed for the proposed health reform plan.

Clinton indicated that he himself had decided the 75¢ figure for cigarettes, and that the figure was firm. "That's what will be in the bill," he said.

The amount raised by this tax would specifically go to the poor and to small businesses, to help them pay for private health insurance under the plan.

HEALTH

RACE AND LUNG CANCER FINDING

Oct. 7, 1993. Researchers at the Ohio State University said studies suggest that black smokers face twice the risk of lung cancer as whites who smoke the same number of cigarettes.

LOCAL ISSUES

ILLINOIS FINDS TAX INCREASE YIELD HIGHER THAN EXPECTED

The Illinois State Dept. of Revenue has found that a rise in the state tax of 14 cents last July has not produced fewer smokers, as had been expected. The result is a windfall for the state. The reason for steady smoking rate is thought to be a result of the cigarette price war which has kept street prices down.

CALIFORNIA TOBACCO TAX TO FUND BREAST CANCER PREVENTION

Oct. 2, 1993. Today Governor Pet Wilson signed an additional 2 cent tax on cigarettes. The $38 million the tax will bring in is earmarked for breast cancer research and detection, and provides for increased screening, mammograms and biopsies for underinsured women.

The Republican governor defended his action as a legitimate exception to his "no new taxes" stance. "This is a bill which I am in fact eager to sign," he said. "This is a tax on something that is a luxury. It is a tax that is relatively minor."

California's tax now comes to 37 cents a pack, ranking about in the middle of state cigarette taxes.

BOUGHT-AND-PAID-FOR TOBACCO INFLUENCE WORKS

California state legislators accepting money from the tobacco industry were found to vote in the industry's interest, University of California, San Francisco, researchers reported. The study found that how legislators voted on tobacco issues were directly related to tobacco industry contributions--the more money received, the more the legislator would vote pro-tobacco.

74 of the 80 California Assembly members and 38 of the 40 state senators received tobacco industry monies last year. The highest amount, $221,000 was accepted by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

NO LOSS OF BUSINESS FOUND IN SMOKEFREE RESTAURANTS

In a survey of the first 13 cities to ban smoking in restaurnts, University of California, San Francisco researchers found that restaurants did not lose business to neighboring communities. The study tracked restaurant business for up to seven years after implementation of bans. The findings refute tobacco industry claims that such bans cause restaurants to lose up to 30% of their business. The restaurant-ruin argument is often pitched through industry-supported organizations, dominating debate in communities considering such ordinances.

INTERNATIONAL

SMOKER WITH HERNIA DENIED SURGERY

Tobacco News readers know there has been an uproar in England this year, as many of Britain's doctors have refused to operate on smokers in some non-emergency cases where recovery rates for smokers are poor. A furor arose recently when a patient died while waiting for heart surgery.

Now a woman has been refused hernia surgery because of her smoking. Wheelchair-bound Linda Wright's surgeon, Geoff Oates, has said the operation would be a waste of time while Wright was "still subject to violent coughing in the early post-operative period." The surgeon performed an earlier operation on Wright in 1989, but that failed after 3 months. "I am doing my best to give up, but it is very hard," said the woman.

BRITISH LIKE NON-SMOKING SECTIONS

A British study by the Department of the Environment found that 95% of Britons favor non-smoking sections of eating establishments, and 66% favor non-smoking sections in bars.

AUSTRALIAN COURT RULES PASSIVE SMOKING NO RISK

September, 1993. The Western Australian health authorities recently took Burswood Casino, Perth's leading tourist attraction to magistrate's court for failing to control smoking. However, the magistrate ruled, "While (passive smoke) is annoying and of discomfort to non-smokers it has not been proved at the required standard, or at all, in this prosecution, that it is a risk to the health of the employees at the casino."

Dr Bryan Gandevia, one of two respiratory physicians testifying for the casino, said, "It wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference if passive smoking in all places including residences and public buildings and other buildings was banned tomorrow."

Australian courts have conflicting views of passive smoking. In May of 1992, in New South Wales, Leisel Scholem was awarded $50,000 for exposure to second hand smoke. The court in that case ruled against the employer and calculated damages on the basis of knowledge about the risk of passive smoke inhalation at the time Ms. Scholem was employed, from 1974 to 1986. It was thought the case would begin a nationwide move in Australia to ban smoking in the workplace.

BULGARIA'S TURKISH TOBACCO TURMOIL

Oct. 11, 1993. The Bulgarian government is facing major unrest among Turks in the mountainous southeastern portion of the country. The region's only source of livelihood is tobacco, and the growers, backed by the Turkish "Movement for Rights and Freedoms" (DPS), are demanding a 100-200% increase in tobacco purchase prices, and have resorted to hunger strikes and road blocks.

The government in a compromise today raised tobacco purchase prices 57.4%. Bulgartabak, the nation's largest tobacco maker, charges that the increase will make Bulgaria's tobacco unmarketable in other nations.

Bulgaria issued a directive attempting to coordinate various government departments and the parties involved (employers, growers, trade unions and the DPS) in a 2 year program to develop, promote and market Bulgaria's tobacco industry.

Tobacco growers' plans for further road blocks and a march on Sofie remain unchanged.

CIGARETTES IN CHINA

298 million people in China smoke--35% of the population, and 30% of all smokers. They represent the world's largest cigarette market. The central province of Henan has the highest smoking rate in the country at 41.5%. Cigarette consumption is rising rapidly, having gone up 25 per cent between 1986 and 1991. The World Health Organization estimates 2-3 million people a year will die of smoking-related diseases in China within 3 decades.

China is the largest consumer of cigarettes in the world. The former East Bloc countries is second(700 billion), followed by the United States (500 billion).

China is also by far the world's largest producer of tobacco. The country produces 1.64 trillion cigarettes a year, one third of the world total (c. 5.5 trillion). Tobacco is the number one tax-paying industry, bringing in $5.35 billion last year, 7% of the national budgetary income.

Last year China imported 8 billion packs of Marlboro, and seized as many in smuggling busts. As an imported brand it carried a 170% duty, and another 8 billion could easily have been successfully smuggled into the country. Counterfeiting and smuggling are giant industries in China. Tobacco accounts for 60% of all smuggled goods. One swindler involved in a multimillion dollar cigarette scam received a death sentence last month.

"This vasty larger marketplace means a whole new world of opportunities," Dale Sisel of RJ Reynolds recently said. Such expansion would "pave the way for a bigger and brighter future."

Two major American tobacco companies, RJR (in 1988) and Philip Morris (in August, 1993), have signed cooperative agreements with China National Tobacco Corp. to produce and market several of their brands in China for both domestic and export markets.

The Malboro cowboy rides the range in China. The red-and-white billboards are reportedly the dominant feature of many Chinese cities. Philip Morris sponsors the Marlboro Championship Tennis Tour and Marlboro Soccer, and sponsors the popular radio program, the "Marlboro American Music Hour." A letter from Chinese students published in the Petaluma, Calif., Argus-Courier read in part, "Every day we listen to the Marlboro American Music Hour. We enjoy Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. We smoke American cigarettes and wear American clothes. We are eager to gain more information about American life."

As with many countries, cigarette advertising is banned from TV, but cigarette companies get around this ban by

1 ) sponsoring televised events.

2) paying for cigarette placement in movies.

3) advertising non-tobacco products named after cigarettes.

The most prestigious and expensive brand is Deng Xiaoping's old favorite (once a fierce chain-smoker, he quit at age 85), Panda. Panda goes straight to the leaders of the country, and can't even be found in tobacco shops. The most expensive brand you can find is China ($4.20 a pack) and Hill of the Red Pagoda ($2.30 a pack). The STM (State Tobacco Monopoly) has stated that both Marlboro and 555 brands, sold at about $2.10 a pack, are most popular "among the young and in coastal cities".

However, farmers overproduced tobacco last year, and have a 2 1/2 year supply on hand, more than the government can pay for. Some have burned their crops in despair.

Even as China successfully institutes an economy based on a monetary currency, cigarettes are still a potent unit of exchange. As a special gift, a kindly bribe without direct monies involved, cigarettes reign supreme, the more expensive the better. Due however to inflation, a couple of cartons must do, where ten years ago a pack was sufficient.

There is little in China to warn of smoking's hazards. Public health officials have only just begun to urge tobacco companies to provide health warnings and low-tar cigarettes.

On Saturday, October 16, Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy will arrive in China to attempt to further open China to the import of US agricultural products, including tobacco.

TOBACCO EPIDEMIC GROWING WORLDWIDE

Dr. Judith Mackay of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control brought attention to the growing influence of British and American tobacco companies in developing nations. She stated that the companies break into these markets by using aggressive advertising and marketing techniques, as well as political and commercial pressures such as trade sanctions--often backed by the US and Britain.

Dr. Mackay estimated that the growing numbers of smokers in these countries will raise the annual worldwide death rate of smoking-related diseases from its current 3 million/year to 10 million/year in 2025. 7 million of these will be from developing nations--2 million in China alone.

THE TOBACCO BUSINESS

PHILIP MORRIS GAINS ON BIG BOARD

October 13, 1993. Philip Morris Cos. became the most actively traded stock today on the New York Stock Exchange today, gaining $2 3/4 to close at $51 3/4 a share, after Sanford C. Bernstein and Co.'s tobacco analyst, Gary Black, raised his recommendation of the company's stock from a "hold" to a "buy".

Black estimated 1994 earnings would rise from $4.85 a share to $5 a share. Investors felt Black's remarks indicated that the company was about to raise its recently-slashed cigarettes prices. PM denied it planned a price rise, citing Marlboro's declining share for the 8 months preceding "Marlboro Friday" last April, and noting that market share for the brand rose 3% in June. Preliminary data indicates that succeeding months will show an even greater increase.

TOBACCO INSTITUTE CUTTING 40% OF STAFF, MOST OFFICES

Oct. 29, 1993. The Tobacco Instutute, the cigarette manufacturers' Washington, DC lobbying group, is cutting about 36 jobs. Spokesman Thomas Lauria estimated that offices would be closed in Boston, MA; Louisville, KY; Atlanta, GA; Jefferson City, MO; Denver, CO; Austin, TX; Seattle, WA; and Sacramento, CA. Probably maintained will be those in Albany, NY; Minneapolis, MN.; and Indianapolis, IN..

Unaffected will be the Institute's political action committee, which makes political contributions to lawmakers, and the annual winter conference in Palm Springs, where legislators are entertained.

10/27/93 Reports from the 121st Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, held in San Francisco:

SOCIETY

FREEDOM AIR RISES

Sept. 28, 1993. After months of heavy publicity, Freedom Air, the smoking airline, today competed its maiden flight between Chicago and LA. Aboard the 150 seat aircraft were exactly 29 passengers, only 2 of whom had actually paid--and one of those was a non-smoking asthma sufferer who had to get to LA quickly to deal with family problems, so took the earliest flight available. The other 27 passengers were the airline's owner and his publicist, travel agency pros and media folk (who began the flight interviewing each other at the boarding gate).

The airline was started by a 60-year-old retired United Airlines pilot, Ted Hall, who runs it as a charter, thus avoiding the Federal Aviation Assoc. ban on smoking. A lifetime membership in the Freedom Air Smokers Club is $20. Members must sign a waiver acknowledgeing their awareness of the Surgeon General's warnings on the dangers of smoking. No pipe or cigar smoking is allowed, nor is smoking in the bathrooms. Children under 21 are not allowed to join.

Hall, a San Diego resident, started the airline with $200,000 of his own money.

Two more flights are scheduled, after which Hall will decide the fate of Freedom Air.

LATE NIGHT SMOKING NEWS

From David Letterman, Oct. 4, 1993:

THE TOP TEN REJECTED FREEDOM AIRLINE MARKETING SLOGANS:

10. Come take a ride on a flying ashtray
9. Remember, you can't spell tarmac without tar
8. If this sounds like a good idea to you, you're just the kind of loser we're looking for
7. Every meal prepared by the loving hands of a creepy humanoid camel
6. Soon we'll have gambling and hookers!
5. Will that be smoking, or chain-smoking?
4. Fly the phlegmy skies
3. Oxygen masks? Never had 'em, never will
2. If he were still alive, the Marlboro Man would have flown with us.
1. Kids cough free

(Note that no. 2 seems a surprisingly canny reference to Wayne McClaren, the "Marlboro Cowboy" model who died of lung cancer last year at the age of 51--shortly after he had attended a stockholders' meeting and begged Philip Morris to limit its advertising.)

In doing a little advertising for tobacco companies, however, the Letterman show plays no favorites. Almost the entire RJ Reynolds' "Smooth Character" Joe Camel billboard in Times Square is prominently featured in the opening montage each night, and a large portion of a black-and-red Marlboro billboard consistently peeks out of the background behind Dave's left shoulder when he's seated at his desk.

Oct. 5, 1993. Jay Leno, commenting on the destruction of 40,000 acres in the Santa Barbara, CA area because of a forest fire caused by a smoker's cigarette:

"40,000 acres! I guess that's what they mean by 'Marlboro Country.'"

On the same program, Leno said, in reference to the Virginia Slims "Book of Days" diary promotional item, "Maybe it should be called 'book of Days Left.'"

SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS INVESTING

October 16, 1993. Reuters' Clint Willis recently covered "socially conscious" mutual fund investing.

Tobacco News readers might be interested in two anti-tobacco funds:

1. For conservative investors, The Pax World Fund (800 767-1729) has been run by manager Tony Brown since 1971. He believes in companies with fair employment practices and strong pollution controls He refuses firms that deal in defense-related products, alcohol, tobacco or gambling. The fund is heavy in "life-supporting" products--food, utilities, health care--which has hurt income recently. Willis concludes, "However, the fund has almost matched the market's performance over the past five years while taking less than two-thirds of the average equity fund's risk."

2. For the more aggressive, the Parnassus Fund (800 999-3505), run by manager Jerome Dobson, favors firms with "good labor practices, community service records and solid environmental policies." Dobson avoids companies that deal with weapons, nuclear power, alcohol or tobacco. The fund has turned in performances double that of the average fund over the last 3 years. It posted gains of 52% in 1991 and 36% in 1992, but trailed the average "by fat margins" in 1989 and 1990. "Investors in this fund should be ready to ride out some major performance swings; it's been roughly 25 percent more volatile than the typical stock fund over the past three- and five-year periods."

ASTHMATIC CHILD REMOVED FROM SMOKING MOTHER'S HOME

Sacramento, 10/16/93. In a closed door session, a judge removed an asthmatic child from a mother's home, partly because the mother refused to stop smoking around her daughter.

The parents have had joint custody of the child since 1988, when a judge ordered the mother not to smoke around the child. The father claimed she has consistently disobeyed the order, and that the home was filled with smoke. A urine test showed the child had as much nicotine in her blood as an18-cigarette-a-day smoker.

The judge placed the child in the custody of her grandmother, and ordered psychological evaluations for father, mother and child.

SANTA BARBARA FIRE

Oct. 7, 1993. 40,000 acres were laid waste in the Santa Barbara, Calif. Los Padres National Forest by a 22-year-old hunter's cigarette. Scott Jouett, 22, of Santa Ynez, said he was "completely taken by surprise . . .I was jumping on it with my feet trying to stomp it out but every step seemed to fuel the fire," he said. Soon the fire "exploded into a tornado-type swirl of wind. We were very lucky to get out. . . I am very upset. I have feelings of regret, grief, knowing it was a mistake. . . I am thankful that no one has been seriously injured."

Jouett faces 2 misdemeanor charges, each of which carries a $5,000 fine and up to six months in jail.

CIGARETTES USED AS PARTY FAVORS IN NEW YORK

The New York Times Styles section of September 19, 1993 notes that at the opening of the uptown Barneys, and at Vanity Fair's 10th anniversary celebration, "women with cigarette trays passed out free smokes."

STUDY FINDS TV TOBACCO USE ON RISE

In a study of 230 comedies and dramas on TV last fall (1992), a study found that among 158 prime-time fictional programs, 24% contained at least one "smoking event" - the showing of smoking, ashtrays, advertisements, smoke-filled rooms, etc. Of 110 such events, only 9 contained an anti-smoking message. More typical is the romanitcized depiction of Colombo's cigar-chomping, or the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air's fantasy of wealth including smoking a pipe, the use of a cigarette to stereotype a "tough" image on "Quantum Leap" or to indicate stress (and the relief of stress through smoking) on "LA Law."

"By and large smoking is presented as a positive and desirable behavior. Television does little to discourage youths from smoking, and, in fact, may

contribute to initiating smoking." said Anna R. Hazan of the Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF.

The Institutes' Stanton A. Glantz said, "Like the movies, television depicts smokers as glamorous, successful and attractive people. In real life, this is not the profile of the prototypic smoker."

"Smoking Events" averaged one every 27 minutes in 1950-1963, and went down to one ecery two hours in the 70s. But the glamorous depiction of smoking has increased since the mid-80s. Last fall the rate was one every 85 minutes.

Broken down by category, dramas contained one smoking event every 171 minutes in 1981, and one every 50 minutes last fall. Comedies contained one event every 77 minutes in 1950-1963, one every12 hours in 1971-1977, and one every 130 minutes last fall.

DRUG ABUSE STUDY DOCUMENTS DAMAGE

A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of New Jersey documented the devastating affects of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs on health, family stability, national productivity and the judicial system.

Dr. Steven Schroeder, foundation president, said, "In this era of health policy reform, any attempt to contain health care costs and make care accessible to all must begin to address the magnitude of the substance abuse epidemic,"

Joseph A. Califano Jr., president or the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, said was "destroying families, driving up health care costs, overwhelming the education, criminal justice and social systems of this nation and contributing 1o an unprecedented wave of violence and homelessness."

SPORTS

RACE CARS TO CARRY SMOKELESS TOBACCO HEALTH WARNINGS?

Oct. 29, 1993. The FTC may clarify the definition of "advertising" in the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 to include race cars. The expanded definition would specifically apply to race cars and race-related hats, balloons, banners and other marketing devices.

The proposal, requested by the Coalition on Smoking OR Health in 1991, would mean amending the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986.

The proposal calls for three labels to "be conspicuously and prominently displayed on a rotating basis in most forms of advertising for any smokeless tobacco product":

*"Warning: This product may cause mouth cancer."

*"Warning: This product may cause gum disease and tooth loss."

*"Warning: This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes."

Scott Ballin of the American Heart Association said the FTC has been limited by Federal Law in its control of sports-event advertising.

Smokeless tobacco companies affected include Skoal and Copenhagen. Nearly 5 million Americans, mostly of low- to middle-income, use smokeless tobacco.

The FTC will hear public arguments until December 3, and then will vote on the measure again.

WOMAN KILLS WOMAN WHO COMPLAINED ABOUT HER SMOKING.

September 27, 1993 In a suburb of San Francisco Saturday morning, Daphnye Luster, 22., mother of four, began smoking a cigarette in the non-smoking section of Denny's restaurant. At another table, a group of five women complained to the manager, who had Ms. Luster extinguish it. Words were exchanged between Ms. Luster and the women. Ms. Luster left but returned later with a 12 gauge shotgun, and shot in the head Rachell Rashan Houston, 20, as she drove from the restaurant.

Thomas Lauria of the Tobacco Institute said of the incident, "While no one can condone that violence, a possible explanation of it is the kind of nasty, state-sponsored ads they bombard Californians with that ridicule smokers."

EDITORIAL

"While no one can condone that violence, a possible explanation of it is the kind of nasty, state-sponsored ads they bombard Californians with that ridicule smokers" --Thomas Lauria of the Tobacco Institute

This statement was made in response to a news item about a woman who, having had to put out her cigarette in a restaurant, returned and killed a 20 year old woman with a 12-gauge shotgun blast to the head. As sad and distressing as the incident itself was, it is Lauria's statement which continues to disturb.

Lauria's use of this unfortunate incident to promote his own position is shameless. The alleged killer's murderous rage could have been triggered as well by a traffic incident as a cigarette. And were that the case, we would no more tolerate Toyota or some other invested observer saying, "See? Just goes to show what happens when you have so many big ugly American cars clogging up the freeways," than we should tolerate Thomas Lauria's venal and ugly attempt to propagandize for his employer. His joyriding on this young woman's violent death is about as despicable as anything I've ever heard out of the Tobacco Institute, and I believe it shows he's getting a bit burned out on the job. The Tobacco Institute is usually far more dainty and circumspect. Lauria's statement is way over the top, and I would hope the Institute is getting lots of flack about it, as in a recent letter to the Chicago Tribune in which Arnold H. Nelson wrote, "Is the Tobacco Institute so starved for positive publicity that it must virtually condone murder in supporting their product? If there is not already a spin doctor's hall of fame, Lauria's statement is a good excuse for starting one."

Tobacco Institute
1875 I St. NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 457-4800
(800) 424-9878

END OF DOCUMENT