• Smoking Bad, Drinking Good, Longevity Study Finds
• Agricultural Secretary Synar?
• Philip Morris & NYC Arts
• CA: Philip Morris Spent $5.1m On Prop.188

SMOKING BAD, DRINKING GOOD, LONGEVITY STUDY FINDS

London, October 8, 1994. A study of 34,000 male British doctors tracked since 1951 has determined that smoking kills with 24 differenct diseases--causing among others heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke--and conversely, that as much as three drinks a day can help prolong life.

Smoking actually seemed to help prevent one illness, Parkinson's disease, although researchers said that could be a statistical anomoly.

"These findings over 40 years lead to the horrible conclusion that one-half of all smokers will eventually be killed by their habit," said researcher Sir Richard Doll, who started the survey in 1951. Doll said those who had quit smoking by middle age avoided almost all the harmful consequences of smoking, while those who quit while in middle age substatially reduced smoking's long-term risks.

Questions on alcohol were added to the survey in 1978. Richard Peto, who compiled that data, said, "One or two drinks a day, in comparison with complete abstention, results in fewer vascular deaths and total mortality is reduced by at least one-sixth."

There was no appreciable difference whether the drinks were of red wine or martinis. "But when you get up to several drinks a day you actually get more vascular deaths" from heart disease and strokes, Peto said.

The researchers reduced the alcohol portions in their public announcements. "Scientifically, it's upward of three drinks a day, but we figured if we say one to two drinks, people will stretch it to three," Peto said.

The researchers urged the EU to raise taxes on cigarettes as the one proven method to reduce smoking rates.

The study was included in the Imperial Cancer Research Fund's 650 page report released last month.

Agricultural Secretary Synar?

Washington,Oct. 3, 1994. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy's resignation has led to speculation about his successor. One of those considered in the running is Mike Synar, the Oklahoma democrat who just lost his seat in Congress in a primary run-off. Though Synar is a staunch Clinton supporter, two things will work against his nomination: his support of raising grazing fees on public lands, and his attacks on the tobacco industry.

Philip Morris & NYC Arts

New Yorik, NY Oct. 5, 1994. Last week, Philip Morris made a threat--later said to be "a statement about the level of (the company's) frustration"--to move its corporate headquarters out of town if New York City's proposed smoke-

free bill is passed by the City Council. Now, faced with near-certain passage of the bill, Philip Morris has begun calling in its I.O.U.s from the arts groups it funds, according to a front page article by Paul Goldberger in the New York Times today.

Reportedly, the company is not directly asking the organizations to oppose the smoke-free bill. Rather, it is asking organizations to express to the city council how important the company is to the city.

A consultant to many arts groups told Goldberger that the groups "have been so shocked that they didn't know how to react." However, some groups have indeed written Peter Vallone, Council Speaker, to say that they are taking no position on the smoke-free bill, but want to go on record to note how much Philip Morris does for the cultural life of the city.

Philip Morris has long been a prominent supporter of the arts in New York City, sponsoring not only high-prestige events like the Matisse exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Next Wave festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, but also providing extensive support to numerous smaller art organizations and dance troups. Currently the company is sponsoring the "Origins of Impressionism" exhibit at the Met. (Goldberger writes that at the opening night party, there were so many cigarettes going, the Temple of Dendur was "enveloped in a cloud of smoke."

Philip Morris' arts budget is estimated in the millions of dollars, and attracts numerous seekers. Part of Philip Morris's large cultural affairs staff's function is to review and pass judgement on the many applications for grants.

But Philip Morris' presence in the New York art community goes beyond money. "Company executives sit on the boards of many arts institutions that receive Philip Morris money, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Alvin Ailey dance troupe," writes Goldberger.

A March, 1994, NY Times Magazine article, "How Do They Live with Themselves," noted that George Weissman, an ex-Philip Morris CEO, has been chairman of Lincoln Center since 1986. William Campbell, current president of Philip Morris U.S.A., is a board member of the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the MacDowell Colony. And Stephame French, vice president for corporate contributions and cultural affairs for Philip Morris, is on the board of the Joffrey.

Philip Morris' power, while seemingly unexpressed, is clearly palpable. Those Golberger interviewed for the article did not want their names or even their organizations cited. Goldberger writes, "In the arts world, offending Philip Morris is the equivalent of crossing the National Endowment for the Arts."

Goldberger concludes his article by quoting George L. Knox, Philip Morris's vice president for public affairs: "We will continue to give willingly and with great enthusiasm to the arts: the question is not whether but where. Right now, leaving New York is not under active consideration, but the only permanent fixtures in New York City are Grand Central Terminal and the Empire State Building."

October 9, 1994

Reverberations from the article continued in syndicated colmnist Anna Quindlen's column on Saturday, and a New York Times editorial Sunday.

"The surprise," Quindlen wrote, " was that so many (arts organizations funded by Philip Morris) were blindsided by the fact that the quid came with a pro quo."

Quindlen cited the director of the Coalition for the Homeless, who refused to accept industry money any longer, after being asked in 1988 to write to the City Council in regards to the Smokefree Air Act then being considered.

Quindlen last paragraph began with an anonymous dance company spokeswoman's words, as quoted by Goldberger: "Thank God for sinners. They're the only people to support the arts." Quindlen commented, "Like the reaction of so many to the relationship between culture and cigarettes, the comment had at its core the argument that the end justifies the means. Only it doesn't."

The New York Times editorial in favor of the bill referred to Philip Morris' approach to arts groups as "arm twisting." The editorial concluded, "Should the outcome be a bill that puts the tobacco industry's economic clout ahead of New Yorkers' health, then that industry, and Philip Morris in particular, can congratulate itself on its power to undermine public health policy for millions of Americans."

In other arts news last week, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a $300 million capital fund-raising campaign. The money would go to various construction and renovation projects.

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