Tobacco News on the Web Archive, Mar. 1997

Tobacco News on the Web

Archive, Mar. 1997

Note: These articles wink in and out of existence with the frequency of sub-atomic particles. Many links will be dead. In that case, these pages can be approached as bibliographies, both noting the event, and showing where you might look for further information.

  • 03/03/97 VIRGINIA: Tobacco Policy Confusion Traced to Gilmore Aide Deputy Attorney General William H. Hurd gets blame for FDA policy snafu. But no one's talked to him yet(!) Richmond Times Dispatch

  • 03/03/97 BUSINESS: Amex to Trade Options on the Tobacco Index Beginning March 5 New Index Options Offer Benchmark Investment Vehicle for Tobacco Sector. Tob Index will be composed of shares of 9 companies:
    • American Brands, Inc. (AMB)
    • Philip Morris Companies, Inc. (MO)
    • B.A.T. Industries P.L.C. (BTI)
    • RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. (RN)
    • Dimon, Inc. (DMN)
    • UST Inc. (UST)
    • Empresas La Moderna, S.A. (ELM)
    • Universal Corporation (UVV)
    • Loews Corporation (LTR)
    --PR Newswire

  • 03/03/97 BUSINESS: Possibility of Settling its Legal Headaches Boosts Philip Morris Behind the MO surge. Chip Jones, Richmond Times Dispatch

  • 03/03/97 CALIFORNIA: Scientists Say Pollution Risk Studies Thwarted Wilson administration under fire again. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment accused of repeatedly watering down and delaying issuing scientists' findings; some scientists say managers in the Office appear to be trying to muzzle them. "There's an overall pattern here: politicizing the science, slowing down the process and starving good people out"-- Stanton Glantz. There's a mention of the 6-years-in-the-making CALEPA secondhand smoke report. Questions surrounding OEHHA will be the focus of a legislative oversight hearing today chaired by state Sen. Byron Sher (D-Stanford). LA Times

  • 03/02/97 Money most persuasive tool in D.C.? More memos, c. 1990, many from lobbyist James W. Dyer. "PHIL-PAC is the most powerful lobbying tool we have to get our message across."
      Memos urge:
    • Quid Pro Quo: "While we should also strive to provide financial support (or gifts) to conventioneers who come to Richmond, we should begin to expect a little something in return for our generosity. At the very least, we should ask any group who wants our money if they may be willing to take a position on our issues in the future."
    • PM employee involvement in philanthropic and community affairs. "Such volunteerism is a source of great pride for our employees and presents us with considerable public relations ammunition to counter anti-tobacco sentiment in plant states." . . "If PM personnel are placed strategically, we will be well positioned to head off organizational support for anti-tobacco activities and initiatives."
    • Organized tours of PM plants for farmers. "The more often we tell growers how much we love them, the better off we are."
    • Possible scholarships for agriculture journalism majors."We could provide them with the opportunity to receive an education, and maybe they'll remember us."
    • Creation of a new tobacco PAC: "We should enlist the financial support of all segments of the industry and thereby create a financing mechanism for political campaigns solely based on tobacco."

  • 03/02/97 Company Pushed for Image Makeover 1990 lobbyist James W. Dyer's memo hopes Philip Morris can get over its Washington image as a tobacco company known for good charity work "(and good parties)", and become known as a "consumer products" company. Richmond Times Dispatch

  • 03/03/97 MARYLAND: Lobbyists for Tobacco Shrug Off Heat, Put Out Fires 3 dozen bills killed in 1996. "They have certainly over the years managed to amass so much influence that they are clearly able to thwart the will of the people of Maryland," Of lobbyists Dennis C. McCoy, Bruce C. Bereano, J. William Pitcher, plus legislators who have fought tobacco control bills: Del. Robert A. McKee (R-Washington) and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's) Washington Post

  • 03/03/97 In the Know (on Investments with Tobacco Holdings) A move is under way in the fund and medical industries to promote investment in tobacco-free stocks and divest of current holdings Winston Salem Journal

  • 03/03/97 The CANADA/CUBA Trade Helms-Burton law ridiculed in Canada. "I'd hate to see cigar prices rise because people can buy them in the States. And I'd hate to go to a beach in Cuba and find it jammed with Americans. Right now, it's the only place in the world you can go and not see Americans. Orlando Sun-Sentinel, Knight Ridder. POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/02/97 CUBA: US Partygoes Invade Havana Philadelphia Inquirer

  • 03/02/97 SPAIN: BAT Is First To Try Advertising On Private Cars Pall Mall "skins" go on 75 cars in Madrid. Car owners in Logocar's "publicoche" system get $230/month. Ad Age.

  • 03/01/97 INDIA: Indians Welcome Budget Tax Cuts But Smokers Glum Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram slashes income tax by 10% across-the-board. Cigarette excise taxes rise, but the poor's "beedi's" tax structure remains unchanged. Reuters

  • 03/01/97 MINNESOTA: Ceo Tells Businesses They Have Stake in Tobacco Lawsuit On March 4, 1997, Andy Czajkowski, the president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBSM), will address the St. Paul Rotary Club on the Minnesota lawsuit against the tobacco industry. He'll tell executives of their stake in the landmark litigation, covering: businesses' costs for tobacco, and how litigation is a way to offset lost productivity. Business Wire

  • 03/02/97 AIRLINE Smoking Policy Roundup LA Times

  • 03/02/97 Renters Who Smoke Get No Legal Protection Q&A from Project Sentinel, a rental housing mediation service in Sunnyvale, Calif. LA Times

  • 03/01/97 COLLECTIBLES: 5 "Ty Cobb Cigarettes" Cards Found Rob Lifson, president of Robert Edward Auctions of Hoboken, N.J., has come up with no fewer than five Ty Cobb T206 tobacco cards with a portrait of Cobb on the front and advertising for Ty Cobb cigarettes - "King of the Smoking Tobacco World" - on the back. Lifson will auction the cards June 28-29. Reserve: $5,000 each. SF Examinder

  • 03/01/97 ILLINOIS: One Town's Tough Stance on Tobacco Spotlight on Woodbridge, IL, where underage smokers are cited, fined. MSNBC

  • 03/01/97 HEALTH: Nicotine Eases Ulcerative Colitis? Study by Dr. William Sandborn at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., on 64 nonsmoking patients, using nicotine patch. Published in 03/01/97 Annals of Internal Medicine. Reuters Medial News

  • 03/04/97 Tobacco Farmers Toughing It Out Southern Maryland auction scene. Lower yields, lower prices, regulation threats. Washington Post

  • 03/04/97 CANADA: Tough Smoking Curbs Take Effect in Toronto AP Philadelphia Inquirer

  • 03/04/97 CANADA Sees Tobacco Bill Passing House on Thursday Tobacco sponsorship bill C-71 must then pass Senate. Reuters

  • 03/05/97 CALIFORNIA: Bill to Ban Tobacco Billboards near Schools Introduced AB 752 would ban them within 500 feet. "Many of California's children must face a gauntlet of tobacco ads on their way to and from school.--Assemblywoman Carole Migden, D-San Francisco.

  • 03/04/97 FLORIDA Gov. Chiles Blasts Tobacco in his state of the state speech. While calling tobacco a "cheap drug" and cigarettes a "highly efficient drug-distribution system," Chiles asked legislators to approve a 10 cent per pack increase in Florida's cigarette tax. UPI

  • 03/04/97 AMA Journal Commentary Backs State Suits, not Congressional Settlement "If the Congress is actively involved in the negotiations toward a resolution, there is a greater likelihood that the tobacco companies will sculpt the agreement to suit their interests rather than the public interest. . . Historically, Congress has been more beholden to tobacco interests than to states, localities or public health concerns."
    • 03/04/97 Congressional Action on Tobacco Litigation is Unwarranted, Say UCSF Researchers "To rush into a settlement without adequately considering how it would impact public health would not only be premature, but it would be a huge mistake." --lead author Stanton A. Glantz, Ph.D., UCSF professor of medicine and researcher at the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies, in the March 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Business Wire

  • 03/04/97 MINNESOTA Businesses Have Stake in Tobacco Suit, Says Blue Cross Chief Business Wire

  • 03/04/97 CHINA to Ban Smoking on All Public Transport From taxis to ship cabins to planes. Starting May 1, 1997. Reuters

  • 03/04/97 Did the (NEW YORK CITY) Smoking Ban Start the Cigar Craze? Poor Marvin Shanken gets no credit. Ex-Daily News writer Linda Stasi spouts off on her nemesis, the 1995 NY smoking ban, quoting tobacco-supported sources. Another pro-tobacco piece from another tobacco-ad-filled publication. Village Voice

  • 03/04/97 IOWA: Activists Urge Legislature to Debate Tobacco Issue, Repeal Preemption "I sense that there's enormous support in both House of the Legislature. Let the chips fall where they may."--Attorney General Tom Miller. AP POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/03/97 Hollywood Turns Up the Heat On Tobacco-Company Execs Of tobacco industry plotlines in "The Practice," "Feds," "New York Undercover," "The Runaway Jury," etc. The Wall Street Journal (pay reg), but if you act fast you can catch the POSTNet article POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/03/97 CANADA: Toronto Bans Smoking in Bars, Restaurants AP FoxNews
    • 03/03/97 Rosie DiManno Urges "Revolt" Against Toronto's Smoking Restrictions Toronto Star
    • 03/03/97 Lung Cancer Epidemic Hits CANADIAN Women Lung cancer in Canada killed an estimated 6,000 women last year - 700 more than breast cancer. And the nationwide statistics, to be released Thursday by the National Cancer Institute of Canada, show lung cancer deaths among women are projected to rise to new heights this year. "The rates for breast cancer are fairly straight. . . . Colorectal cancer is going down, ovarian cancer is going down, cervical is going down. Everything is either a straight line or going down for women, except for lung cancer, which is just going up right off the chart."

  • 03/07/97 VIRGINIA: Confusion on Enforcing Tobacco Rules Came From Deputy, Gilmore Says Deputy Attorney General William H. Hurd was "misunderstood." "It's a technical and complicated area. . . So I think it's a question of perhaps not being understood."

  • 03/07/97 Health: Smoking Triples Risk of Small Intestine Cancer in Men Sugar, alcohol, fried bacon, ham, smoked meat, fish also factors in adenocarcinoma. Study by Dr. Anna Wu, of the department of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California /Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. International Journal of Cancer Reuters Medical News

  • 03/07/97 Pharmacia and Upjohn to Purchase US Manufacturing Rights to Cygnus' Nicotrol PRNewswire

  • 03/06/97 PENNSYLVANIA: US Court Hears Arguments on Key Tobacco Case Class Action on behalf of PA smokers to be decided. Could be first case to win federal court certification as a class action. Reuters

  • 03/06/97 FLORIDA: New Bid to Derail Medicaid Suit Conservative Democratic Sen. Charles Williams has filed legislation that would effectively derail Florida's $1.4 billion lawsuit against tobacco companies. UPI

  • 03/06/97 NEW HAMPSHIRE: Gov. Sheehan Proposes Doubling Cig Pack Tax "Our polling shows that 80% [of New Hampshire adults] support the kindergarten program and 80% support raising the cigarette tax to pay for it. . . We're looking at two 80%-20% issues here." Tax would plug gaping hole in Northeast cig tax situation, as buyers from surrounding states and Canada buy low-cost cigs in NH. Wall St. Journal. (pay reg)

  • 03/06/97 HEALTH: Passive Smoke Impairs Children's Recovery from Acute Asthma Study of 22 recovering children by Dr. Rajy S. Abulhosn and colleagues at the University of Washington's Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. Reuters Medical News

  • 03/05/97 Scientists Coax Blood from Tobacco Genetically engineered tobacco contains human DNA; becomes a manufacory of human hemoglobin. One of the advantages of this type of blood substitute is that there is no cell. . . You don't have to do the blood-type matching because that is in the cells, meaning you could use it more quickly."--Michael Marden of the French research institute INSERM. Reuters. Here's a different item from Reuters Medical News
    • 03/06/97 Plants Acquire a Taste for Blood The reverse angle: more on how an implant of a hemoglobin-making gene from a bacteria _help_ tobacco grow, fight off viruses. Leif Bülow and his colleagues at the University of Lund in Sweden. New Scientist.
    • 03/03/97 Red Blooded Plant: How a Haemoglobin Transusion Boosted Tobacco When a team from the University of Lund gave tobacco plants the gene for haemoglobin, they were astonished by the results. The modified plants grew big and bushy, shooting up faster and generating far more nicotine than regular plants. If this isn't a fluke, it looks as if they may have stumbled on a way of making many plants far more productive. Team leader: Dr Leif Bulow, of the Centre for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Lund. Nigel Hawkes, Times of London

  • 03/06/97 MASSACHUSETTS: 4 Firms Seek Appeal on Disclosure Ruling Boston Globe

  • 03/06/97 US Court Hears Arguments in Tobacco Exec Extradition Case Boston Globe
    • 03/06/97 US Attorney Pushes Court to Extradite ex-BAT Exec to Hong Kong Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Whiting asked the court to overturn a U.S. District Court's decision not to extradite a former tobacco executive wanted in Hong Kong on bribery charges because he would effectively be tried in Chinese courts.. Attorney argues treaty to remain in effect, requiring Lui to be tried in British court. Reuters

  • 03/06/97 WASHINGTON: Pierce County Health Officials Help Retailers Take Down Tobacco Ads "Truth in Tobacco Advertising in Pierce County" resolution bans tobacco ads within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds and school bus stops, and limits tobacco ads outside those "kid zones" to black and white type, stating price, brand and availability. Business Wire

  • 03/06/97 BAT Abandons "Fight to Death" in America Electronic Telegraph

  • 03/05/97 Passive Smoke May Delay Tooth Development Source: Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) newsletter. Your Health Daily

  • 03/06/97 A Misbegotten Smoking Campaign Anti-FDA rules op-ed by Stephen Chapman, Chicago Tribune

  • 03/05/97 Air France Details its Stand-up Smokers' Bar Business Wire

  • 03/05/97 American Indian Network Denounces Exploitation Of Tobacco Calls the marketing of Natural American Spirit cigarettes a desecration of sacred cultural practices Business Wire

  • 03/05/97 Tobacco Industry Tracking Databasec Debuts on the Web Database tracks instances of industry front groups/people/tactics. You can try it here. Business Wire

  • 03/05/97 BUSINESS: Net Rises at BAT Reuters/MSNBC. More info in the Press Release Tobacco profit up 7%. PR Newswire

  • 03/05/97 States Cracking Down on Teenage Smoking State taxes now average 33.2 cents per pack. Taxes range from 82.5 cents per pack in Washington D.C., to 2.5 percent in Virginia. Reuters

  • 03/05/97 FLORIDA Invites News Crews to Stings Department of Business and Professional Regulations takes ongoing sting operation high-profile. Orlando Sentinel

  • 03/05/97 Profile of Woody Wilner Florida lawyer who tried the Grady Carter case, as seen by the Times of London

  • 03/05/97 BUSINESS: 1996 Premium Cigar Imports Up 67% PR Newswire from Cigar Aficionado

  • 03/04/97 HEALTH: For Low-Tar Smokers, a Different Cancer Risk SF-Oakland study by Dr. Donald Shopland of National Cancer Institute confirms US, Swiss studies. Adenocarcinoma far surpassing squamous cell as most prevalent lung cancer. "When you ask people why they switch, the primary reason is to reduce health risk." . . . But people who smoke low-tar filtered cigarettes still crave the same amount of nicotine -- and so pull the air deeper in their lungs to achieve it. This is called "smoker compensation." Your Health Daily

  • 03/03/97 NEW YORK: Cigarette Makers Burned by Parody Ads The story behind Joe Cherner's taxi-top "Virginia Slime" ads in NYC. Nandonet

  • 03/09/97 Now It's Cigars' Turn to Face Scrutiny New studies on the way. Richmond Times Dispatch

  • 03/09/97 HEALTH: Cervical Neoplasia and Cigarette Smoking: Are They Linked? Abstract: The presence of tobacco-specific carcinogens in the cervical mucus of smokers and their effect on the local immune system strongly suggest that smoking has an etiologic role in the development of cervical neoplasia. However, it remains unclear whether smoking can affect the initiation of high-grade cervical neoplasia independently from human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Studies that control for HPV infection may not entirely resolve the issue of the role of smoking in cervical neoplasia. Cigarette smoking may be causative through its effect on oncogenic HPV infection or by altering the immune response system. This article reviews the currently available data assessing the relationship between cigarette smoking and cervical neoplasia. MedPulse 03.07. Medscape

  • 03/09/97 HEALTH: Plastic Lung Offers Hope CD-sized unit inserted into chest cavity. Animal-experimentation stage; human use 5 years away. The Times of London

  • 03/09/97 AUSTRALIA: Tobacco Wars The situation from Down Under. The Sunday Age

  • 03/09/97 AUSTRALIA: "No Cancer Link," Say Tobacco Chiefs "I am not aware of any causal relationship with lung cancer and heart disease and smoking." --Wills chief. The Sunday Age

  • 03/09/97 TEXAS: Doing Time Smokeless March, 1995 prison ban: health success, smuggling nightmare. Houston Chronicle (Free Reg)

  • 03/09/97 Humidors of Health, Signed by Castro An original auctioned off at Cohiba Anniversary party for $130,000; 29 copies for sale in limited edition. "With two of these, we could have paid for the entire expense of our ground militia."--Castro. NY Times (Free Reg)

  • 03/08/97 Camel Menthol Ads Geared to Blacks, Protesters Tell RJR Philadelphia march today by National Association of African Americans for Positive Imagery. Winston Salem Journal

  • 03/08/97 CANADA: New Toronto Law Virtually Bans Smoking Even in Bars, but Many Are Still Lighting Up. Washington Post

  • 03/08/97 BUSINESS: RJR to Raise Cigarette Prices by 4 Cents a Pack Winston Salem Journal

  • 01/22/97 The Price of Cigarette Ads The addiction that dares not exhale its name in the gay-community. Info from a study by the California Lavender Smokefree Project: stats on gay smoking; tobacco ads increasing in Out, The Advocate Carol Midgen, SF Bay Guardian

  • 03/08/97 VIRGINIA: Gov. Allen--Enforce Tobacco Sales Law Early Challenges assembly to put new law authorizing liquor agents to enforce sales ewrestrictions into effect April 2, not July 1. Richmond Times Dispatch

  • 03/08/97 MASSACHUSETTS: SecondHand Smoke Screen On Rep. Simmons' preemptive bill: Under the present system, communities with a preponderance of nonsmokers are free to impose stringent rules, while the smoking minority can usually find a congenial establishment in a neighboring town. As American society turns against tobacco, communities are free to tighten the rules . . . There is no need for a new law--unless the Legislature wants to become a covert ally of the tobacco industry. Editorial, Boston Globe
    • 03/05/97 MASSACHUSETTS Restaurant Association and Tobacco Seeking Preemption More than 100 Massachusetts cities and towns that have banned smoking in restaurants would see their clean-air regulations wiped out under a bill being aggressively pushed by the state restaurant association in quiet concert with the tobacco industry. MRA has recieved "general support grants" from Philip Morris. Rep. Mary Jane Simmons,(D-Leominster) sponsors bill. Boston Globe

  • 03/07/97 JAPAN: PM Taken to Court over his Smoking Suit charges Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's "I will smoke as much as possible" violates constitution; demands he quit smoking. Reuters

  • 03/07/97 UK: Smoker Refused Heart Surgery Sues Hospitals Michael Sale, 48, of Old Goole, East Yorkshire . . . eventually had a quadruple bypass performed privately. The £35,000 cost was met by the Enlightened Tobacco Company. Times of London

  • 03/07/97 TV Looks to Tobacco Companies for Villains The previous Wall St. Journal article about Feds, The Practice, etc. Miami Herald

  • 03/06/97 CANADA: House Passes Tobacco Restrictions Bill The Canadian House of Commons passed a bill on Thursday to restrict tobacco advertising and sponsorships despite protests from Quebec politicians over the effect it would have on cultural and sporting events. Reuters

  • 03/06/97 New Report Documents Threats To Youth From Alcohol And Tobacco Web Sites Center for Media Education releases its bombshell.

  • 03/12/97 More Teens Lighting Up A look at the 1995 data and possible causes; John Travolta called "The New Marlboro Man." March, 1997 American Demographics

  • 03/12/97 FLORIDA: New TV Ads Attack Tobacco Article also covers activity in the legislature on tobacco control bills. (Ft. Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel

  • 03/12/97 BUSINESS: Is RJR Just Blowing Smoke with New Brands? Have those offbeat "Moonlight" brands lost some of their steam? Politix, Metro, City, North Star, retired. House Blend added. RJR losing share in 1996: 24.6, compared to PM's rising 47.8. Chicago Tribune

  • 03/12/97 CANADA: The Fight Against Cancer Women's rising lung cancer/smoking rates noted. Montreal Gazette

  • 03/12/97 NORTH CAROLINA: Bill on Tobacco Sales to Minors Gets Tentative Senate OK . . . proposal would drop the hedge-word "knowingly" from an existing state law that makes it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under 18 New bill would be enforceable. Winston Salem Journal

  • 03/12/97 United Air to Go Completely Smokeless July 1 Including flights to Asia, South America. Chicago Tribune

  • 03/12/97 EUROPE: Advertizers Throw Down Gauntlet Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) director-general John Hooper calls for advertisers to "unleash their latent power" against threats to tobacco, alcohol, and children's ads. "It is vital that the Government realises the impact of commercial communications to the nation's economy. Freedom to advertise is fundamental to the future well-being of ISBA member companies, their employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders." New Leo Burnett study of 9-15-year-olds' lifestyles, product usage and hobbies helps target kids' disposable £9.6 billion annually, plus £8.4 billion in "pester power." Times of London

  • 03/12/97 SPORTS: Tobacco Spitting David O'Dell holds the world record. LA Times

  • 03/12/97 This Week's Media Net Panic Opinion on the tobacco/alcohol website brou-ha-ha. Wired

  • 03/12/97 CANADA: Protest over Time Magazine Tobacco Ad Terrry Polevoy provides front cover & ad pics. Healthwatch.org

  • 03/11/97 BUSINESS: Shareholder Asks Sara Lee to Spin Off Tobacco Unit School Sisters of Notre Dame want spin-off of Dutch unit, Van Nelle Tobacco Co. Dow Jones POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/11/97 HEALTH: Smoking and Alzheimer's Preventing small strokes could dramatically reduce the risk of developing the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, University of Kentucky scientists reported in Tuesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. . . . stroke prevention measures include giving up cigarette smoking . . . Chicago Tribune POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/11/97 Tobacco Companies Hide Low-tar Vents, Expert Says Blocking the vents with the fingers could double the amount of tar and nicotine inhaled, Kozlowski wrote in the British Medical Association journal Tobacco Control. Dr Lynn Kozlowski and colleagues at Penn. State U. Reuters

  • 03/11/97 BUSINESS: 1996 US Cigarette Exports, Cigar Imports Hit Record Highs Tobacco Merchants Assn/Business Wire

  • 03/11/97 TV Smokes Out a Trendy New Villain On Feds, The Practice, etc. Philadelphia Inquirer

  • 03/11/97 This is Your Network on Anti-Drug Ads ABC's March Against Drugs; some discussion of how the Partnership for a Drug-Free America implies legal drugs are not as harmful as illegal drugs. Village Voice

  • 03/11/97 AUSTRALIA: Tobacco Sellers Battle License Fees in High Court New South Wales seller and duty free shops argue licence fees are really excise taxes. Fees brought in $850M to NSW last year. Could mean billions lost to states. AAP/MSNBC

  • 03/11/97 Work Week: Pushing Smokers Outdoors Doesn't Do the Trick for Clean Air The Wall Street Journal. POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly). Here's the actual Wall St. Journal article (Pay Registration)

  • 03/11/97 BUSINESS: BAT Won't Comment on RJR 4c/pack Price Hike Reuters

  • 03/10/97 MARYLAND: Cigarettes still rule during happy hour despite Howard's anti-smoking edict Clydes suit shaping up as test case. Baltimore Sun

  • 03/02/97 MINNESOTA: After 30 Months in Court, State is Racking Up Some Victories Overview of Minnesota's Medicaid suit The $26-billion U.S. cigarette industry suddenly found itself in a fight not about smoking, but about its history. At the heart of the cases lies a question: Did the tobacco industry conspire since the 1950s to cover up and downplay the risk of smoking?St. Paul Pioneer Press

  • 03/10/97 Ex-tobacco company researcher speaks at Thoracic conference Work with rats suggests nicotine is addictive, Victor DeNoble says. Baltimore Sun

  • 03/09/97 MARYLAND: Free Kits Available for Tobacco-Free Kids Week March 17-23. Baltimore Sun

  • 03/05/97 AGRICULTURE: Buyers Turn Over Leaf at Lower Prices Maryland auctions disappointing. Baltimore Sun

  • 03/05/97 Smoking Ills, Up Close and Personal Inside a teen tobacco education program. Baltimore Sun

  • 03/10/97 HEALTH: Smoking Hikes Women's Stroke Risks Smokers 5 times more likely to have a buildup of fatty material in carotid arteries than women who've never smoked. Study by Dr. Holly C. Lassila at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health in Pennsylvania. Source: Stroke. Reuters Health eLine. 3/11/97 Smoking Is A Major Risk Factor For Stroke In Postmenopausal Women Reuters Medical News

  • 03/10/97 Former US Surgeon Generals to Testify on ETS In Broin airline attendant class action, Dr. Jesse Steinfeld "will testify that the tobacco industry did everything it could to impede the information [on secondhand smoke] from getting to the public" in the 1970s--Rosenblatt. Reuters

  • 03/10/97 Video Questioning of Tobacco CEOs Scheduled Florida class action lawyer Rosenblatt will come to New York. Schedule:
    • April 15: Lorillard
    • April 17: Philip Morris USA, RJR Tobacco
    • April 18: B&W.
    Reuters

  • 03/10/97 FLORIDA: Orlando Visitors Bureau to Promote Cigar Restaurants Cigar-friendly restaurants that want to publicize the fact should contact the Orlando Convention & Visitors Bureau.The bureau is compiling a list of restaurants that allow cigar smoking to shoot out to prospects. For information, contact Laura Hutchingson, (407)363-5837. Short item from the Orlando Sentinel Restaurant Notes Column by Susan G. Strother. POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/10/97 CALIFORNIA: Assembly Passes Tobacco Suit Plea Asks AG Lundgren to sue tobacco companies. Republican leader Curt Pringle received permission to hold off the formal request until a second Assembly vote later. Reuters

  • 03/10/97 BULGARIA Clones Tobacco to Resist Disease, Pests New strains to save on pesitcides, produce better tobacco. "We expect to be the first in Europe to have created cloned tobacco varieties in this field."-director of the Institute of Genetic Engineering, Atanas Atanassov Reuters

  • 03/10/97 SKOAL Sponsors Summer Rock Tour ROAR (Revelations of Alternative Rhythms) with Iggy Pop, Sponge, Linda Perry, Reverand Horton Heat. "I presume that, as with any rock tour, it will attract a lot of kids. --Novelli. "I know it's an issue to lots of people, but . . . It's just the way of doing business in America right now." --Art Collins, Iggy Pop's manager. Warp tour turned Skoal down. Florida-based promotions firm Magic (Scott Kernahan) put together ROAR tour. Sponsorship allows $10 ticket price. LA Times

  • 03/11/97 Sen. Ford Announces He Will Retire Washington Post

  • 03/10/97 Tobacco-Free Grand Prix to be Held "THE TOBACCO-FREE GRAND PRIX: A YOUTH AND FAMILY EVENT" will be held Saturday, March 29, at California State University Long Beach. Event will run from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. Held by LA Public Health Foundation through LA Link. PR Newswire

  • 03/09/97 Tobacco Smugglers Cash In On Swiss Connection EU Report says Switzerland is central to European tobacco smuggling, an ideal link in a chain of fraud. Cigarettes from America "fall off the lorry." Report recommends "sanctions" against multinational tobacco companies involved. "Swiss companies . . . operate as a pivot in the whole network." Electronic Telegraph

  • 03/10/97 Motorsports Group Endorses Legislation To Protect Sponsorship Rights American Motorsports Public Affairs Council Inc. (AMPAC) supports H.R. 410, a bill Introduced by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn) that would protect the ability of tobacco companies to sponsor motorsports events. PRNewswire

  • 03/13/97 RJR Papers to be Introduced in Tobacco Case RJR researcher Alan Rodgman in 1962 memo: "Obviously, the amount of evidence accumulated to indict cigarette smoke as a health hazard is overwhelming. The evidence challenging such an indictment is scant." Released document to be introduced in April 7 trial. Reuter

  • 03/14/97 MINNESOTA: Anti-smoking bill spurs interest-group face-off Grocers accused of being front for big-tobacco lobby . . . As another skirmish approaches in the battle over how to keep kids away from cigarettes, anti-smoking groups and grocers are again fighting over the role the tobacco industry is playing in the debate. St. Paul Pioneer Press (pay registration)

  • 03/15/97 Washington Post Article Critized for Pictures of Female Army Officers Smoking Re: "Engendering a Warrior Spirit:" These pictures send the unmistakable message that women have been assimilated by smoking cigars just like the men, that smoking is obviously condoned within the officer corps and among the enlisted personnel and that the health hazard does not seem to be a concern in the military establishment

  • 03/14/97 Hatch, Kennedy Eye Tobacco in Search for Child Health Funds Boston Globe

  • 03/14/97 American Airlines to go Smokefree July 1 American Airlines is eliminating smoking from the rest of its flights . . . becoming completely smoke-free. As of July 1, American flights to and from Latin America, Japan and some markets in Mexico will become smoke-free. AP Fox News

  • 03/14/97 CALIFORNIA: Green Party in Arcata, CA Exploring Strict Smoke-free Legislation First city in the nation run by members of the Green Party mulls strictest smoking ban in nation. Washington Post

  • 03/13/97 HEALTH: Postrevascularization Smoking Increases Mortality Risk By 44% Based on this finding, the authors suggest that "[t]he beneficial effect of smoking cessation on mortality may be due primarily to the reduction in deaths from cardiac causes." Dr. David R. Holmes, Jr., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Report is in today's The New England Journal of Medicine. Reuters Health News

  • 03/13/97 UK: British biotech firms funded by tobacco - journal Dr Grant Lewison and colleagues at the Wellcome Trust examined 185,000 biomedical papers listed in the Wellcome Trust's database from 1988 to 1994; said they found a considerable number of references to studies funded at least in part by tobacco companies. ". . . there is a suspicion that researchers who accept money from the tobacco industry, whether directly from a company or from a charitable foundation financed by the industry, are compromising their integrity." Reuters

  • 03/13/97 LEBANON: Farmers End 3-Day Strike over Tobacco Gov. offers better terms for purchasing crop; farmers had threatened to go back to growing hashish and opium. UPI

  • 03/13/97 Cigarette Stocks Rally On Hopes for Broad Settlement The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)

  • 03/10/97 FLORIDA Tobacco Battle Has Connection with Richmond, VIRGINIA Larus & Bros., ex-manufacturer of Edgeworth pipe tobacco, aided Florida's 1977-80 prison cigarette manufactory. Chip Jones, Richmond Times Dispatch

  • 03/13/97 Tobacco Suits Likely Won't Succeed, but Will Do Damage Volume of cases increases problems of defending them. John Vanderstar, Tobacco Institute attorney, appraises situation. Winston Salem Journal

  • 03/13/97 Some Businesses Allowing Room for Smokers Ventilated rooms provided to keep smokers closer to work; Amtrak installing smoking areas. The Wall Street Journal POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/13/97 Recovery Network Coming to Cable, Dish "12-Step TV" Addictions-oriented programming; IPO seeks $20 Million. Drudge Report/Wired

  • 03/13/97 MASSACHUSETTS: Despite Antismoking Drive, Outlook Hazy at Statehouse State House still remains a smoker's paradise, thanks to a Senate president with a deep attachment to Newport Lights. . . . Senate President Thomas Birmingham, a Chelsea Democrat, who is a heavy smoker and not the least bit apologetic about it. No one appears to want to challenge the powerful Senate leader. Boston Globe

  • 03/13/97 CALIFORNIA: Student-Aid Group Starts First Major Fund Drive $100,000 is sought as smoke clears following the rejection of a tobacco company's offer to print brochures. Santa Ana Education Foundation moves on. LA Times

  • 03/13/97 A Tobacco Row On premium stogie shortages. LA Times

  • 03/13/97 Free Speech Smokescreen Considering that the informational value of tobacco advertising is so low and the health consequences so dire, the courts have compelling reasons to affirm the FDA's historical, social and legislative mission to protect the public health Tightly argued Op Ed by Lawrence Gostin, Peter S. Arno Allan M. Brandt . Washington Post

  • 03/12/97 Broader Liggett Pact Seen Talks with 22 states intensifying; deal could come soon. "The [secret industry] documents are key." Gail Appleson, Reuters

  • 03/15/97 CALIFORNIA: Ad Says Governor Is Soft on Smoking; Health groups question his motives SF Chronicle

  • 03/17/97 BUSINESS: UST Sees Q1 1997 Below Q1 1996 Drop due to competitive pressure, decline in moist smokeless tobacco unit volume. Reuters

  • 03/17/97 BUSINESS: Gallaher Prepares for £2bn De-merger Britain's leading cigarette manufacturer has finalised its board structure in the run-up to £2 billion de-merger from American Brands, the US parent severing its links with tobacco. Electronic Telegraph

  • 03/17/97 KENTUCKY: Center for the Arts Temporarily Bans Smoking ADA complaint by Tim Brooks, volunteer head of the American Cancer Society's tobacco control committee, brings ban. Separate enclosed smoking area considered "if we can afford it." Lexington Herald Leader

  • 03/16/97 CALIFORNIA: Testing the Mettle of State's Health Czar When the state's anti-smoking ads air next week, the truth will be known whether Kim Belshe is a hard-hitting opponent of tobacco or is taking it easy on the industry SF Chronicle

  • 03/16/97 CALIFORNIA: Too Early Yet for Tobacco Industry to Crow A judge has tossed out the bid by San Francisco and 10 other counties to recover their expenses on sick smokers, but the smoke of battle hasn't cleared yet. SF Chronicle

  • 03/16/97 Patient Catches Fire; VA Smoking Policies Examined St. Petersberg (FL) Times

  • 03/16/97 A Workout for Huffers and Puffers Austin, TX: Jimmy Long's Smoga class at Jo Walston's Manor Road Coffeehouse. Chicago Tribune

  • 03/16/97 VIRGINIA: Time to Turn over a New Leaf: Tobacco, the FDA and AG Gilmore A terse but thorough look at the legal, legislative, historical, economic and social issues by Kurt Gregory Erickson, executive director of the American Lung Association of Northern Virginia. Washington Post

  • 03/16/97 U.S. Clears Agouron's AIDS Drug, Stock Soars FDA gives early OK to Viracept, a retroviral therapy for HIV. Considerable excitement over product which was co-developed by Agouron and the pharmaceutical division of Japan Tobacco.

  • 03/16/97 TEXAS: Legislators stress moral values in targeting teens Critics question necessity for more laws that single out youths Houston Chronicle

  • 03/16/97 CALIFORNIA: New Camel Menthol Draws Protest Protests planned for CA cities by African American Tobacco Education Network. "We used to pick it, now they want us to smoke it." --Brenda Bell Caffee, network coordinator. LA Times

  • 03/16/97 HEALTH: Lung Cancer Antidote Found in Watercress Few hard references. Unnamed researchers find that a chemical in watercress --consumed daily in doses of watercress big enough to fill a large colander -- broke down an important cancer-causing agent in tobacco smoke into a waste chemical which passed harmlessly out through the bodies of their volunteers. Study, researchers, chemical and carcinogen unnamed. Times of London

  • 03/14/97 MINNESOTA: Feds Seek Tobacco Industry Records in Civil Suit "We believe that the plaintiffs' attorneys in this action have information which would assist us in determining . . . some of the issues that we are investigating." --Justice Dept. lawyer to court. St. Paul/Minneapolis newspapers force release of transcript of Feb. 18 closed hearing. St. Paul Pioneer Press

  • 03/15/97 CANADA: Most Customers Butt Out When Inspector Calls But not all; resume when he leaves. Return visit may bring tickets. Toronto Star

  • 03/15/97 Tobacco-backed Senator Leads Opposition to Campaign Finance Reform "Money talks" = free speech issue for Mitch McConnel (R-KY). Profile by LA Times

  • 03/15/97 Smoking Can be Bad for your Driving Times of London

  • 03/14/97 American Cancer Society Rejects Cigar Company's Charity "ACS Statement by George Dessart, Chairman of the Board, Regarding CIGARSir's Charge Against Cancer Promotion" The American Cancer Society is appalled by CIGARSir International's plans to donate money to cancer research organizations from their Charge Against Cancer(TM) promotion. If named a recipient, the American Cancer Society will refuse to accept their blood money. . . If CIGARSir is really sincere about the fight against cancer, they should eliminate cigar vending machines and abandon their attempts to peddle their products to healthy men and women PR Newswire

  • 03/15/97 Wigand Avoids Jail over Domestic Abuse Violation Ordered to stay 1,000 feet from wife in divorce dispute. Lexington (KY) Herald Leader

  • 03/14/97 VIETNAM: Marlboro Fined for Violating Ad Ban Posters, promotional items confiscated. Over 70% of males smoke. AP MSNBC

  • 03/14/97 Tobacco Advertising in Motorsports: Point/Counterpoint Point: American Motorsports Public Affairs Council Inc. (AMPAC) supports H.R. 410. Counterpoint: A group of businessmen with ties to the motorcycle industry are backing teenage road racer Chris Ulrich in a unique program designed to deliver an anti-smoking message to young racing fans across the country.Targeting kids and teens age 12 and up, "Kids: Don't Smoke! Racing" is using the sport of motorcycle road racing to attract attention to the Gold Country Tobacco Prevention Coalition's anti-smoking program and to encourage kids not to smoke. Motorcycle Online

  • 03/13/97 MISSISSIPPI: State Supreme Court Allows Tobacco Suit to Proceed Gov. Kirk Fordice's challenge to Medicaid Suit rebuffed. UPI

  • 03/19/97 Air France Summer Schedule Features the Only Smoker's Bars on Flights Between Houston and Paris Business Wire

  • 03/19/97 AUSTRALIA: SA Ban on Smoking Could be Eased South Australian government proposes amendments to 1999 ban to allow smoking section one meter from eating area. AAP MSNBC

  • 03/18/97 A Dark Day for Big Tobacco Monday's Supreme Court decision; Walgreen's pulls Camel Menthol; Chicago-area Martha Byrne "Woman Thing" concerts to be met with protests. Chicago Sun-Times

  • 03/19/97 FLORIDA: Tobacco Wins a Round in the Legislature House Committee votes to keep state preemption of local laws; Florida Restaurant Association joins tobacco industry. Rep. Fred Lippman, D-Hollywood: "What they attempted to do is fracture good state policy." St. Petersberg Times

  • 03/19/97 Man killed by fire started by cigarette A man fond of Marlboro Reds was found dead early Tuesday after a cigarette ignited his mattress and fire spread throughout his apartment. St. Petersberg Times

  • 03/16/97 HEALTH: Secondhand Smoke: Just How Serious Is the Risk? Solid, sober overview of EPA, CEPA other reports, criticisms. Leslie Papp, Toronto Star

  • 03/18/97 CANADA: Feds Deny Funding Research to Hike Nicotine Levels Only "monitored" research to boost nicotine in tobacco. Ottawa Sun

  • 03/18/97 CANADA: 8 Bars, Restaurants Face Smoking Charges Toronto begins enforcing the ban. Toronto Star

  • 03/18/97 FLORIDA: Anti-tobacco Forces Brace for Repeal Fight in Legislature Fresh from a high-court victory, Florida's anti-tobacco activists are bracing for a legislative assault on the innovative law allowing the state government to sue cigarette makers. Reuters

  • 03/18/97 HEALTH: Smoking Linked To Genital Warts Risk Regardless Of HIV Status Cigarette smoking "...is associated with anincreased incidence of genital warts" in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative women,--Dr. Joseph G. Feldman and investigators from SUNY, New York. Source: March issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Reuters Medical News

    • 03/19/97

  • 03/18/97 L.A. Link Driving Tobacco Sponsors Out of Auto Racing Los Angeles Public Health Foundation's tobacco control project, L.A. LINK holding their own "Tobacco-Free Grand Prix" Saturday, March 29, From 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM in Long Beach. PR Newswire

  • 03/18/97 Palm Beach Smoke Snuffers Butt In Swank tent party enlivened by 2 smoking run-ins. Gossip from the New York Post

  • 03/17/97 Legions of Lawyers Lead Tobacco Charge Over 500 firms on both sides; analyst estimates industry spends $600M/year. Some industry lawyers have had to hire their own lawyers. "The litigation is in a class by itself." Rich article by Myron Levin & Henry Weinstein, LA Times

  • 03/17/97 Supreme Court to Review Smoker's Lung Cancer Suit Against GE, Westinghouse, Monsanto Robert K. Joiner was 37 in 1991 when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. At issue: exposure to PCBs. By 1998, SC will review federal appeals court decision reinstating suit. AP Fox News

  • 03/15/97 CALIFORNIA Announces New Rates of Smoking for Adults and Youth CA Dept. of Health Services Press Release

  • 03/17/97 CALIFORNIA to unveil aggressive new anti-tobacco advertising campaign Business Wire

  • 03/17/97 Nickelodeon Joins with Philip Morris' for "Kids' Choice" campaign. Post Cereals' AlphaBits includes "Kids' Bill of Rights." Campaign also includes child-oriented promotions in Kraft cheese, Oscar Mayer meats and Jell-O. "The advertising message . . . seems to be: Don't watch what you eat. Follow your appetites, wherever they may lead." . . . One place they could lead is toward more adult pursuits. Kraft is owned by Philip Morris, the manufacturers of Marlboro cigarettes, which has been accused of targeting children in its cigarette campaigns. Washington Times

  • 03/17/97 HEALTH: Smoking Linked To Increased Risk Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Smokers found to have more than 5X increased risk, according to study of 70,400 veterans aged 50-79 with no history of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Dr. Frank A. Lederle and investigators with the Aneurysm Detection and Management Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Group--"Our findings strongly suggest that smoking is the principal cause of abdominal aortic aneurysm." Trial results published in the March 15 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Reuters Medical News

  • 03/15/97 MINNESOTA Will Question Tobacco Executives, not Whistleblowers 5 ex-CEOs who faced Congress in 1994, plus 32 researchers, scientists, memo-writers--including Claude Teague?--are on preliminary witness list. David Shaffer, St. Paul Pioneer Press

  • 03/17/97 Parties' Congressional Campaign Committees Took in Millions in `Soft Money' in 1995-96 Common Cause analyzes Federal Election Commission data from 1/1/95 to 12/31/96. Corporations and labor unions may not give directly to federal candidates, and individuals are limited to giving $1,000 to a candidate per election and $20,000 a year to a party committee. But most national party committees have been raising money outside the federal limits, often in $50,000 and $100,000 chunks. This soft money is supposed to be used toward administrative costs and party-building activities such as get-out-the-vote drives. --Washington Post

    • National Republican Senatorial Committee
      • Philip Morris Cos. -- $735,338
      • Tobacco Institute -- $187,100
      • Brown & Williamson -- $170,000
      • US Tobacco -- $121,000
      • RJ Reynolds -- $107,500
      • Smokeless Tobacco Council -- $72,100
      • Lorillard Tobacco -- $47,500
    • National Republican Congressional Committee
      • Philip Morris Cos. -- $353,432
      • Brown & Williamson -- $282,500
      • Smokeless Tobacco Council -- $112,500
      • Tobacco Institute -- $84,000
      • US Tobacco -- $82,900
      • Lorillard Tobacco -- $57,500
      • RJ Reynolds -- $19,500
    • Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
      • Philip Morris Cos. - $237,500
      • RJ Reynolds -- $75,853
    • Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
      • Philip Morris Cos. -- $192,768
      • RJ Reynolds -- $51,300

  • 03/17/97 FLORIDA: US Supreme Court Rejects Philip Morris' & Associated Industries' Constitutional Challenge on Medicaid Suit Law Reuters

  • 03/20/97 Cigar Catalog House Files for IPO 800-JR-Cigar applies to SEC. Media Central

  • 03/21/97 Standard Commercial Expanding to Brazil PR Newswire

  • 03/20/97 FDA: Battle is on over $34M to Enforce Regulations "I think it's entirely premature for the administration to be seeking funding for this program, which surely will be overturned by the courts."--Walker Merryman, Tobacco Institute. Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/20/97 Hong Kong Ex-tobacco Exec Loses Extradition Appeal Lui Kin-Hong could face death in mainland China for smuggling. Reuters

  • 03/20/97 Cigarettes at 20 Paces Opinion by Art Buchwald. Washington Post

  • 03/20/97 UK: Health Plan Fails to Curb Smoking MPs criticise Department of Health for failing to curb the rise in teenage smoking. The Commons Public Accounts Committee "dismayed" by increasing rates. "Labour challenged Stephen Dorrell, the Health Secretary, to ban tobacco advertising and call[ed] on Brian Mawhinney, the Tory party chairman, to declare the amount of money the Conservatives receive from the tobacco industry." Times of London

  • 03/20/97 Cigarette Taxes "Fashionable" 23 states considering cig tax hikes. USA Today

  • 03/20/97 CALIFORNIA: State Rolls Out Anti-Tobacco Ads, Wilson Countering Pro-Tobacco Charge SF Chronicle

  • 03/20/97 Cigars: Blowing Smoke Pro-cigar piece; no mention of health effects. Intellectual Capital

  • 03/20/97 CALIFORNIA: Philip Morris to Sell Mission Viejo PM exiting real estate. Home town of Greg Louganis, who was not national chairman of the Great American Smokeout in 1984, is on the block. Orange County Register POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/19/97 California Supreme Court to Hear Health Group's Appeal To Preserve Tobacco-control Programs ACS, AHA, ALA fight Court of Appeal's approval of legislative reduction of Prop. 99 funds. BW Healthwire

  • 03/19/97 HEALTH: Babies born to smoking mothers should be considered ex-smokers, study Newborns whose mothers smoke during pregnancy have the same nicotine level as grown-up smokers and almost certainly spend their first days of life going through withdrawal Study conducted principally by Dr. Laurence M. Galanti of Mont-Godinne University Hospital in Namur, Belgium. Presented Wednesday at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology. AP Fox News

  • 03/20/97 LOUISIANA Names over 100 Insurers in Tobacco Suit "This petition leaves the tobacco company's insurers little choice. They either pay up or they join us." -- LA attorney general Richard Ieyoub. Reuters
    • 03/21/97 LA Official Adds Insurers to Tobacco Suit The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
    • 03/19/97 Insurance Companies Named in Louisiana Tobacco Medicaid Lawsuit Amended complaint filed March 14 in Ieyoub v. The American Tobacco Co., et al., adding hundreds of tobacco liability insurance carriers to Medicaid suit, according to Mealey's. Additional information on this development will be reported in the next issues of Mealey's Litigation Report: Insurance and Mealey's Litigation Report: Tobacco. For a free copy of those issues, call 610-688-6566. PRNewswire

  • 03/21/97 ILLINOIS: House Committee Rejects Prison Tobacco Ban "You mean to say if a mother brought her son (in prison) a pack of Marlboros, she would actually have a criminal record?" -- Rep. Lovana Jones, D-Chicago. UPI

  • 03/21/97 EUROPE: EU Allows FRANCE's Tobacco Advertising Restrictions Dow Jones (Pay Registration)

  • 03/21/97 As Liggett Agrees to New Warnings, Study Questions their Effectiveness Philadelphia Inquirer

  • 03/21/97 LETTER: Wrong on the Tobacco Tax Number of Maryland's tobacco farmers much lower than article states. "Overall, the decline in prices paid to American farmers is not the result of pro-health advocates pushing for higher taxes on smokers. Instead, it is because U.S. tobacco manufacturers have been steadily increasing their purchases of cheaper foreign tobacco " -- WILLIAM EDWARD ALLI, chairman of the Center for Tobacco & Health Cost Information Inc.

  • 03/23/97 Philip Morris Nicotine Project Gets Attention A Philip Morris project that created at least 2 million pounds of nicotine-treated tobacco stems in the early 1990s has grabbed the attention of federal investigators and lawyers suing the tobacco industry. The nicotine-treated stems were used in about 30,000 test cigarettes before the project was canceled about five years ago, according to internal company documents, interviews with former employees and information provided by Philip Morris. Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/23/97 Liquid Nicotine a Hazard to Handle A Feb. 21, 1986, report by a Philip Morris USA safety official said nicotine "is considered to be the most toxic of all poisons" and warned that the "material is too dangerous to health to expose fire fighters." Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/23/97 Bowman Gray Med Center Relationship with RJR Lauded, Lamented Robinson is one of eight scientists at the tobacco company who are also adjunct faculty members in the medical school's department of physiology and pharmacology. The Reynolds scientists teach medical students. They carry out research -- much of it about addiction and nicotine -- in medical-school laboratories. They publish scientific papers with other medical-school faculty. And they serve as mentors to post-doctoral fellows. To its defenders, the relationship benefits the medical school and the tobacco company. To its critics, it taints the school by mixing medicine with an industry whose products cause severe health problems. Winston-Salem Journal

  • 03/23/97 PROFILE: Helene G. Brown: Her Mission: Cutting Deaths From Cancer It was 1962, two years before surgeon general Dr. Luther L. Terry would release his landmark report linking cigarette smoking with lung cancer and forever change the nation's attitude toward tobacco. "He and I sat with cigarettes in our mouths, working on this report," recalls Helene G. Brown. "We both quit smoking. That was it." In the 35 years since, Brown has been tirelessly fighting cancer as a "political oncologist." LA Times

  • 03/23/97 CANADA: Arnold Schwarzenegger Beats Rap on Smoking Law Vancouver city health inspectors won't prosecute the Planet Hollywood restaurant for allowing co-owner Arnold Schwarzenegger to smoke a cigar during Sunday's gala opening. But that doesn't mean the smoking police are terminating their enforcement of the city's anti-smoking bylaw. Vancouver Sun

  • 03/20/97 MARYLAND: Anne Arundel County Council Debates Billboard Tobacco Ad Ban Some argue law is pointless, as no billboards currently carry tobacco ads. Representative of two local billboard companies: famed tobacco lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano. Washington Post

  • 03/23/97 Consumer Field Seen as Wide Open Minnesota Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey III told consumer advocates yesterday that tobacco is just one area in which state attorneys general can fight for better consumer protections. New marketing techniques by alcoholic beverage manufacturers and on-line advertising need watching, he said in a speech before the annual convention of the Consumer Federation of America Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/22/97 Smokers Will Pay About a Nickel More per Pack of Philip Morris Cigarettes Overtakes RJR price rise. Winston-Salem Journal

  • 03/22/97 PAKISTAN: Court Kicks Tobacco off TV Reports say (Saturday) Lahore High Court passed a restraining order prohibiting the Pakistan Television Corporation and the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation from airing programs and advertisements which "promote or propagate" cigarette smoking. The ban grants a three-year exemption to telecasts of live sporting events." UPI

  • 03/19/97 TAIWAN: All Eyes on Tobacco Bill in Legislature Bill seeks the privatization of the NT$100 billion Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau (TTWMB) China News

  • 03/22/97 KENTUCKY: Blue Mold Safeguards Still Possible Dept. of Agriculture may take steps to prevent blue mold tobacco coming into state. Lexington Herald Leader

  • 03/21/97 CALIFORNIA: Dems Pushing Emergency Bill to Remove AG's Barrier Democrats in California's Assembly hope to push through an emergency bill to modify a law Attorney General Dan Lungren says prevents him from suing the tobacco industry. AP POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
    • 03/22/97 Why State Won't Join Tobacco Suits SF Chonicle
    • 03/21/97 CALIFORNIA: On Tobacco Lawsuit Barrier Law "In California, the settlement will have little effect. The reason: the officially titled "Willie Brown Jr. and Bill Lockyer Civil Liability Reform Law." . . . Civil Code Section 1714.45: "In a product liability action, a manufacturer or seller shall not be liable if...-- . .125t)he product is a common consumer product intended for personal consumption, such as sugar, castor oil, alcohol, tobacco, and butter." Orange County Register POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly) (Article may appear on the Orange County Register Website tomorrow.)

  • 03/21/97 Smokers Blow Off All the Warnings Your Health Daily

  • 03/21/97 Tobacco's Road A timeline of tobacco regulation. Chicago Tribune

    Liggett:

  • 03/21/97 ALABAMA School Sues Liggett The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
    • 03/19/97 ALABAMA: Schools' Tobacco Suit is Stalled by State's Attorney General University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of South Alabama in Mobile intend to file on behalf of their medical schools and teaching hospitals, but Republican AG Bill Pryor holds that as part of state government, the med schools need his permission to sue. "And I remain unwilling to bring this kind of case. The theories that you would have to pursue are at best weak and at worst bizarre." South Alabama President Fred Whiddon refuses to back down. In-depth look at Alabama tobacco politics by The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
  • 03/21/97 Friday's Politically Incorrect covered tobacco Friday night. No one knew anything beyond the headlines; Dweezil Zappa turned out to be the intellectual heavyweight(!) Transcript should be posted here soon.
  • 03/23/97 Liggett's Roots Are in St. Louis Liggett . . . got its start in a small shop in Freeburg, Ill., an operation that gained national stature in St. Louis at the turn-of-the-century. Some fascinating history from the days (1887) when St. Louis was the center of the industry, the largest producer of tobacco in the nation. St. Louis Post Dispatch
  • 03/23/97 Tobacco Giants Act to Stub Out Threat to Profits Analysts assess impact of Liggett. Great graphic of Hellraiser's Pinhead as a smoker. Times of London
  • 03/23/97 The Tobacco Tide Turns But it's still a grand moment, moral and tactical, in the long and continuing struggle to get the tobacco industry as a whole to tell the truth about the deadly product it produces and promotes. And the tangle of forces that brought it to this point, from public-minded civic aggressiveness to financial self-interest, is part of the drama. Editorial, Washington Post
  • 03/22x/97 Deal Sparks Smoke-Out on Wall Street Newsday

  • 03/22/97 Liggett Researched Nicotine Levels, Internal Memos Show Bloomberg gets some documents. Bloomberg/Winston-Salem Journal
    • 03/22/97 Liggett Told to Retrieve Documents Judge William H. Freeman ordered the Liggett Group yesterday to retrieve any secret documents on nicotine addiction and other legal issues that may have been distributed after he ordered them sealed Thursday. Winston-Salem Journal

  • 03/21/97 Battle Not Ending Will start more court fights than it will end--analysts. NY Times/Winston Salem Journal
  • 03/21/97 Forsyth judge saw the smoke signals Profile of Judge William H. Freeman of Forsyth Superior Court. Winston Salem Journal
  • 03/21/97 Farmers Disagree About Move by Liggett Some are angry at company; others express sympathy AP/ Winston Salem Journal
  • 03/21/97 Tobacco Foes Fired Up Winston-Salem Journal
  • 03/22/97 Warnings Unlikely to End Smoking NY Times/Winston Salem Journal
  • 03/23/97 Tobacco Stocks Fall for a Second Day Winston-Salem Journal
  • 03/22/97 Tobacco Shares Fall in Liggett Deal's Wake Washington Post
  • 03/22/97 Holy Smokes! The Truth Hurts The truth is: We can't handle the truth. In the case of cigarettes and other things bad for us, we want to believe there is some disconnect between sin and punishment. We want to get off the hook. "Well," we say, between puffs, "some people say it's still being debated (hack, hack)." . . . Years of carefully crafted evasions -- which we gladly inhaled -- are down the drain. Great. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Is this the portent of a new age of brutal truths? Will corporations and advertisers strip away all stated and implied claims for their products? Will they begin confirming what we knew all along? Opinion By Frank Ahrens Washington Post
  • 03/22/97 Liggett's Secret Papers Subject of Federal Probe Justice Dept. says it will examine trove. LA Times
  • 03/22/97 Liggett Admission May Affect Fight with FDA Lexington Herald Leader
  • 03/21/97 State Attorneys General V. Tobacco: A War Without End? An overview from Feb/Mar 1997 by James E. Tierney (Attorney General of Maine 1980-1990). State Attorneys General Homepage
  • 03/21/97 Settlement Likely To Reduce Industry's Clout DC lobbying may change. Chicago Tribune
  • 03/22/97 Liggett Settlement Holds Nation Hostage Opinion by Joan Beck. Chicago Tribune POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
  • 03/21/97 Liggett Confession Still Lacks "Smoking Gun" Evidence AP Detroit News
  • 03/21/97 When the Smoke Clears, Tobacco Business May Remain the Same Chicago Tribune
  • 03/22/97 For Many, Admission is Old Smoke Liggett reaffirms what many know. Chicago Tribune
  • 03/21/97 Tobacco Firm Settles 22 State Suits John Schwartz and Saundra Torry, Washington Post
  • 03/21/97 Liggett Pact to Aid Justice Probe Reuters

  • 03/21/97 US Tobacco Accord Has Worldwide Implications Reuters

  • 03/21/97 Smoking is on the Rise, Despite Lawsuits Effects of settlement in light of legal, governmental, business and social issues. Shankar Vedantam and R.A. Zaldivar, Knight Ridder POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
  • 03/21/97 Settlement Could Be Big Blow to Rest of Industry Fort Worth Star Telegram POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
  • 03/21/97 Explicit Warnings Could Enhance the Allure of Those "Little White Slavers" Opinion by venerable tobacco-defender Jacob Sullum, Bridge News POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
  • 03/21/97 NORTH CAROLINA AG Questions Value of Documents ""It's hard to see how Liggett Group would give up evidence of criminal behaviour." --AG Easley. Reuters
  • 03/21/97 Smoking Gun (Transcript) This page includes many other tobacco-oriented transcripts, including an August 23, 1996 debate with Brennan Dawson. and a 03/20/97 Ligget Settlement Background with Paul Raeburn, Business Week. (Transcript) PBS

  • 03/21/97 Admission: Smoking is Addictive St. Paul Pioneer Press

  • 03/21/97 Smoking Gun NY Newsday has many nice articles linked from this page:

  • 03/21/97 Cigarette Maker Admits that Smoking Can Cause Cancer NYTImes

  • 03/21/97 Smoking is Addictive, Liggett Packs Will Say AP Raleigh News & Observer. Lots of good links on this page to other N&O stories, Press Releases, etc.

  • 03/21/97 Pressure on Tobacco Stocks Continues in Settlement's Wake The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
  • 03/21/97 Liggett Joins War on Smoking Richmond Times Dispatch has the most humorous head. Also, Philip Morris to Continue Legal Fight by Chip Jones.
  • 03/21/97 Era of Denial Ends LA Times
  • 03/21/97 Tobacco Co. Admits Smoking Leads to Cancer Myron Levin, LA Times
  • 03/21/97 Liggett to Settle Tobacco Suits The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
  • 03/21/97 Kessler Says American People Will React Angrily to Admission Industry Marketed to Children Reuters
  • 03/21/97 Liggett Settlement Burns Tobacco Firms On LeBow, Brooke Group, Liggett financial problems. USA Today
  • 03/21/97 Tobacco Stocks Snuffed Out? CNNfn
  • 03/20/97 Is LeBow Hero or Villain? CNNfn
  • 03/21/97 Buyer of Companies Not Afraid of a Fight AP Fox News
  • 03/22/97 Tobacco Firm OKs Historic Settlement MSNBC
  • 03/20/97 FLORIDA Sees Medicaid Suit Aided by Settlement Reuters
  • 03/20/97 States Settle with Liggett Reuters
  • 03/20/97 Attorneys General to Hold News Conference Disclosing Details of Liggett Settlement 4:00PM at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, DC. Kamper Group
  • 03/20/97 NORTH CAROLINA Court Moves to Protect Tobacco Papers Restrainting order granted. Reuters
    • 03/20/97 Tobacco Cos. Statement "The four major U.S. tobacco companies were granted a temporary restraining order this morning by a North Carolina state court t oprevent Bennett LeBow, Liggett and their lawyers from turning over materials subject to joint attorney-client privilege" PRNewswire
  • 03/20/97 Blue Cross, Blue Shield Not Party to LIggett Settlement Business Wire
  • 03/19/97 Liggett Settlement Could Come Thursday Miss. AG Mike Moore denies NBC news report of a done deal. "We're very close, but we still have negotiating to do. If we do this deal it will be explosive." Reuters
  • 03/20/97 Liggett Offers to Put "Smoking is Addictive" on Cigarette Labels Documents to be released could include docs from "Committee of Counsel," the group of top lawyers from major companies who gathered to direct the industry's legal strategies.. The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
  • 03/20/97 Tobacco Firm Near Deal on Lawsuit MSNBC
  • 03/20/97 Tobacco Stocks Slide 11:30 AM updatee. Reuters
  • 03/20/97 Mealey's Issues Statement PRNewswire
  • 03/21/97 Brooke Group's PR Release
  • 03/21/97 BAT Sees Smoke, not Fire in Settlement Reuters
  • 03/20/97 Another So-Called Liggett Settlement: PM PRNewswire
  • 03/21/97 Further Comments by Philip Morris PR Newsire
  • 03/21/97 PENNSYLVANIA Press Release
  • 03/21/97 WASHINGTON Press Release
  • 03/21/97 MINNESOTA Press Release
  • 03/21/97 American Cancer Society Press Release

  • 03/25/97 BUSINESS: Philip Morris to Buy UST? UST says it has "no information" on news item from weekly marketing newsletter, The Delaney Report. Reuters

  • 03/25/97 HEALTH: Middle-Aged Smokers At Risk For Later Cognitive Decline Smoking during middle age appears to increase the risk for later cognitive impairment, according to a report in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Dr. Daniel J. Galanis of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and colleagues there and at other sites evaluated the relationship between smoking and cognitive performance in close to 3,500 Japanese-American participants in the Honolulu Heart Program and the Honolulu-Asia aging study. Reuters Health eLine

  • 03/25/97 HEALTH: Smoking Hazards Can be Skin Deep American Academy of Dermatology meeting hears paper on "Cutaneous Manifestations of Smoking."--wrinkling, discoloration, psoriasis, slowed healing, numerous malignancies. PRNewswire

  • 03/25/97 HEALTH: Smoking Increases Breast Cancer Risk in women of certain genetic make-ups. Women who were post-menopausal and smoked more than one pack of cigarettes per day and had a variation of the NAT2 gene were about four times as likely to develop breast cancer as their non-smoking counterparts. . . Pre-menopausal women who smoked had 11 times the risk of developing breast cancer of non-smokers if they had a polymorphic variant of P450 2E1. Study by Dr. Peter Shields, acting chief of the molecular epidemiology section of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD presented at an American Cancer Society seminar in Reston, Va. MSNBC

  • 03/25/97 EUROPE: Liggett's Settlement Spurs Debate The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)

  • 03/25/97 Toronto Star
  • 03/25/97 NORTH CAROLINA: Tobacco Farmers Face Uncertainty Raleigh News & Observer POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/25/97 Golden Leaf's Woes Have a Silver Lining For Durham Reyn Bowman, the head of the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau, is so pleased with the five consecutive days of national news reports featuring the city that he is planning to chide CNN in the bureau's next publication for giving the tobacco story a Raleigh dateline . . . Durham residents and business leaders say they are concerned that Liggett's decision to settle lawsuits with 22 states might jeopardize some of the 500 remaining jobs at the company's plant downtown. But at the same time, they see the company's acknowledgement that smoking causes cancer as fitting in with Durham's efforts to remake itself from a tobacco town into the City of Medicine. Raleigh News & Observer

  • 03/25/97 FLORIDA: Tobacco Cos. Challenging "Litigation in the Sunshine Act" Tobacco companies fighting a Florida state lawsuit are challenging the constitutionality of the state's sunshine law requiring courtroom disclosure of trade secrets if the proprietary information affects public safety. William Rutter . . . scheduled a hearing for April 8 on the constitutionality of Florida's Litigation in the Sunshine Act. Keywords: Circuit Court Judge Harold Cohen, Michael Maher, Sandy Bohrer. Reuters

  • 03/25/97 3 States Tell Liggett to Turn over Papers Mississippi, Texas, Illinois. Philadelpia Inquirer

  • 03/24/97 NEW YORK: Albany's Big Shill Squeeze on lobbyists by legislators "out of control." Lawmakers are set to blow the state budget deadline for the 13th year in a row next week, but that hasn't stopped them from planning a record 21 fund-raisers here in the next 48 hours. . . . Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx), who will squeeze lobbyists for $150 apiece tomorrow at the Omni, plans to refuse certain donations. "I don't want tobacco money," Dinowitz said. "I don't want landlord money." But he invited Shulklapper, who lobbies for the RJ Reynolds tobacco company and the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents many city landlords. Shulklapper and other lobbyists said the unprecedented 21 receptions in two nights is the latest sign of an Albany money chase run amok. Mapping out a strategy for attending all of this week's receptions has become like "planning the Normandy landing," Shulklapper said. "It is out of control ‹ not only the number of fund-raisers, but the price keeps going up." NY Daily News A week earlier (03/17/97), the Daily News covered another round of "fund raisers" One lobbyist said the events are so blatant that there was "no point in being discreet. I don't even put it in an envelope," the lobbyist said. "Why bother?"

  • 03/24/97 "Practice" -- Perfect Smoke Tale on the last episode. NY Daily News

  • 03/25/97 BUSINESS: Global Demands Puff Up Industry "Farmers here are gearing up to grow possibly the biggest tobacco crop in history because the worldwide demand for burley tobacco is very high and quotas have been increased to meet that demand." Chicago Tribune

  • 03/25/97 ZIMBABWE Expects Record Tobacco Crop Despite Heavy Rains Reuters

  • 03/25/97 INDONESIA: Profit Fear Hits Tobacco Cos. Gudang Garam and HM Sampoerna shares slip, help bring Indonesian stocks to 3-month low. South China Morning Post

  • 03/25/97 CALIFORNIA: Postscript on Wilson's Dismissal of Tobacco Educator The same day Wilson dumped Torrens, he (Torrens) was notified of receiving the Harvard School of Public Health's Alumni Award of Merit--one of three people to be recognized during the school's 75th anniversary. Seems like people who are up to Harvard's high standards aren't good enough to satisfy the governor. -- letter, ABDELMONEM A. AFIFI PhD, Dean, UCLA School of Public Health . LA Times

  • 03/25/97 If We Can Sue Tobacco Cos., Why Not Smokers? Dennis Byrne lashes out at smokers, smoking moms and Grady Carter. Opinion, Chicago SUn Times

  • 03/24/97 The Net Serves as Command Central in Tobacco Wars To many online activists, the Internet is filling a void left by newspapers and magazines that long ignored the biggest public health story of the late 20th century. "The situation we have today basically is [due to] the complete failure of the advertising-driven model of journalism," said Borio, whose Tobacco BBS site contains no advertising. "We have been under 40 years of blackout of tobacco information." David Shaffer, St. Paul Pioneer Press

  • 03/24/97 Medical School's Ties to Tobacco Criticized R.J. Reynolds and Bowman Gray Medical School are bound together by history. But critics say the relationship taints the school. Keywords: Bowman Gray Medical School, John Robinson, Reynolds Tobacco Co, Bowman Gray, David Altman, Wake Forest College, Paul Sticht Center, RJR Nabisco, Wain White, James Thompson, James Smith, Gary T. Burger. Greensboro (NC) News & Record

  • 03/24/97 Justice Dept. Looks to FCC Before Probing Web Cig Ads A ban on Web tobacco ads would require that the medium be regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, said Gene Thirolf, the Justice Department's director of the Office of Consumer Litigation. . . . "Until [the FCC] takes jurisdiction [of the Web], we don't feel we can be pursuing enforcement action." Ad Age

  • 03/25/97 THE FUNNY PAGES: 3 Stand-up Tobacco Jokes Leno, Maher, etc. LA Times

  • 03/24/97 CANADA: Smoking Split Down The Middle Because Eateries Straddle Border, Half Falls Under Different Bylaw The epicentre of Toronto's controversial anti-smoking debate runs right through two west-end restaurants like a fault line dividing those who puff and the others who have been legislated not to. Toronto Star

  • 03/24/97 UK: Survey shows Britons ignorant about cancer Nearly half of the British public does not associate smoking with cancer . . . Reuters

  • 03/24/97 CALIFORNIA: Health Groups Applaud Anti-smoking Ads Your Health Daily

  • 03/24/97 Settlement May Dim Chances for Legislative Deal on Tobacco Deal has infuriated the big cigarette makers, wiping away the conciliatory tone they had adopted in recent weeks. And it has reinvigorated many parts of the antitobacco community who never wanted any kind of settlement with the industry at all. . . Stuck in the middle is Congress and the White House -- neither of which, observers said, wants to be caught in the political fallout.Suein Hwang, The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
    • 03/24/97 Liggett Pact Puts Spotlight on Industry's Legal Group Focus on Committee of Counsel. Will the crown jewels of Liggett Group's historic tobacco settlement ever see the light of day? 1964 British tobacco industry researchers' report: "The committee is extremely powerful. It determines the high policy of the industry on all smoking and health matters -- research and public relations matters, for example, as well as legal matters -- and it reports directly to the [tobacco companies'] presidents." The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)
    • 03/24/97 ILLINOIS Judge Orders Liggett to Turn Over Tobacco Papers Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Neville ordered Liggett to deliver to him by Friday, under seal, certain documents the cigarette maker agreed last week to release. . . Neville will review the documents and decide within 30 days what to do with them. Reuters
    • 03/24/97 WASHINGTON: Tobacco Secrets Could Become State's Exhibit A Seattle Times POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
    • 03/24/97 FLORIDA State Lawyers Ask Review of 5 Boxes of Liggett Papers Medicaid suit lawyers want court-appointed special master William Rutter to review the Liggett documents in private. Rutter has reviewed scores of other internal industry documents for the trial judge, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Harold Cohen Reuters
    • 03/24/97 Liggett Pact Would Limit Compensation for Plaintiffs . . . less widely noticed was that the company and a group of plaintiffs' lawyers also won preliminary approval from a state court judge in Mobile, Ala., for a companion plan to settle all present and future suits by smokers, their survivors, cities, counties and insurers. . . . [The plan] would not allow those who oppose the terms to opt out and pursue their own lawsuits. NY TImes
    • 03/24/97 Proposed Settlement Seeks to Bar All Smoker's Suits Against Liggett Circuit Judge Braxton Kittrell of Mobile scheduled a hearing July 11 to determine if the pact is fair. AP POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
    • 03/24/97 Liggett Pact Causes Few 2nd Thoughts among manufacturers, farmers. Reuters
    • 03/24/97 OK, OK Cigarettes Do Kill US News on Liggett settlement.
    • 03/24/97 A Hole in the Dam It is believed that these documents may provide evidence of crime and fraud and conspiracy throughout the tobacco industry, evidence that could be used in other cases against the tobacco giants. The validity of this belief remains to be tested, but tested it will be. . . . The small hole now apparent in the dam may grow to release a flood of information that will wash away the defences that, until now, have kept the tobacco industry in clover. Opinion. Irish Times

  • 03/24/97 Lucky Strike Girl is Striking Back Janet Sackman wants no part of a class-action; she'll fight them on her own. NY Newsday

  • 03/24/97 Charlotte Hornets center Vlade Divac goes cold turkey. USA Today

  • 03/24/97 Tobacco's New (Dead) Poster Boy Deng Xiaoping presented as 92-year-old smoking didn't kill; Howard Temin as a 59-year-old lung cancer victim non-smoking didn't save. Argument presented in a Miami court. Business Week.

  • 03/21/97 Hackie Awards: Thumbs Up to "Twister;" Thumbs Down to "Independence Day" LA Times. Here's the HACKIES Web Page

  • 03/24/97 The Smoking Traveler: New Freedom On Air France & Amtrak. U.S. News

  • 03/24/97 Most US Airlines Extend Smoking Ban to International Flights Airline roundup, plus some coverage of FORCES pro-smokers convention in DC. Salt Lake Tribune

  • 03/23/97 Every Cigar is a Nicotine Delivery System Ann Landers, Philadelphia Inquirer

  • 03/24/97 BUSINESS: James M. Kilts steps down as executive vice president, worldwide food, Philip Morris Companies Inc. Resignation effective immediately. Business Wire

  • 03/20/97 LETTERS: Trend to 25-, 30-cigarette Packs Said to Encourage More Smoking, Skew "pack-year" Gauge in Studies New England Journal of Medicine

  • 03/17/97 From 1962, a Smoking Gun in the Tobacco War The latest hot doc: A 1962 plea from R.J. Reynolds researcher Alan Rodgman for the company to publish internal scientific findings indicating a link between smoking and cancer, and to increase company funding for further cancer research. Business Week

  • 03/24/97 CALIFORNIA Measure Could Clear Way for Tobacco Suit Democratic Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante plans to introduce urgency legislation next week. Reuters

  • 03/24/97 The Backlash Against Soft Money Business is fed up, and it may spur campaign-finance reform No tobacco companies in article, but they are in an accompanying chart:

  • 03/24/97 Dick Morris Interviewed on White House Tobacco Strategy Fox News Sunday transcript with Tony Snow, Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, Juan Williams

  • 03/24/97 A Small Cigarette Maker Tries to Blend In Bailey's Cigarettes Just Wants a Little Shelf Space. But they weren't prepared for the opposition they have encountered from Big Tobacco, which seems not to want a competitor, even a small one, that sells a product for half the price. . . "We were really naive," said Mac Bailey. Washington Post

  • 03/24/97 BAT Says No Truth in Fighting Fund Story Reuter

  • 03/24/97 OBIT: Cyril Hetsko, 85, Executive at American Tobacco Co. American Tobacco Co. lawyer and executive (1964-1977) who was instrumental in transforming ATC into American Brands Inc. dies of complications of pneumonia. NY Times

  • 03/24/97 BUSINESS: Standard Commercial Corporation Files Registration Statement For Public Offering of 3,525,000 Shares Of Common Stock BusinessWire

  • 03/23/97 Meehan Bill Would Mandate Tough Warning Labels "Cigarettes Kill," "Cigarettes contain nicotine, an addictive drug" "If you're going to warn people, you might as well warn them accurately" -- Rep. Mary Meehan (D-MA).Boston Globe

  • 03/27/97 MAINE Sheds $500M of Philip Morris Holdings Sale came 3/11, before stock was hammered. Maine Treasurer Dale McCormick ordered the fund managers for the state's Lands Reserved for Public Trust Fund and the Several Trust Funds to sell their $500 million holdings in Philip Morris Companies Inc . "The trustees felt that public funds held in trust for the public should enhance people, not harm them, " McCormick said. Reuters

  • 03/27/97 Poll Shows Anger at Tobacco Industry Skyrocketing Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids press release. US Newswire POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/27/97 CALIFORNIA: Lundgren's Tobacco Stance Could Dog Him Politically and trip up bid to succeed Wilson as Gov. Lungren has stopped accepting money from tobacco companies, his campaign manager said. But in 1995-96, Lungren collected $28,500 from tobacco interests, including Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds and the industry-sponsored Tobacco Institute. In 1993-94, Lungren re- ceived $12,500 from the same tobacco interests. SF Chronicle

  • 03/27/97 NORTH CAROLINA: In Center of Tobacco Country, Growers Keep Firing Up Cox News Service POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/27/97 FTC Says It Has New Evidence in Joe Camel Case FTC doesn't reveal evidence itself; article cites DiFranza, who brought complaint to FTC: . . . he cited a British ad campaign using a figure similar to Joe Camel, called "Reg." The British government, DiFranza said, was able to document that teen smoking increased during the Reg campaign--only in areas where the ads were shown. LA Times Click Here for a precis of the 1994 FTC vote on Joe Camel.

  • 03/27/97 MISSISSIPPI: Judge Gives Tobacco Cos. 48 Hours to Block Release of Files Keywords: Circuit Court Judge Billy J. Landrum, Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore, Liggett Group, Ron Motley, Reynolds Tobacco Corp, Philip Morris. Boston Globe

  • 03/27/97 Upcoming Tobacco Trial Dates AP POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/27/97 CALIFORNIA: Orange County Fair Board of Directors to Consider Smoking Ban in Theatre Areas LA TImes

  • 03/27/97 Swissair to Give Out Nicorette Gum on Smokefree Flights Flights to US and Canada to be smokefree as of March 30. Swissair PR Newswire

  • 03/27/97 WHO Chief Calls for Airline Smoking Ban It is time for all airlines to protect the health of their passengers and ban smoking on international flights, Dr.Hiroshi Nakajima, Director General, World Health Organization, told the Fifth International Conference on Travel Medicine in Geneva, Switzerland. Reuters Medical News

  • 03/27/97 GERMANY: Court Rules Airlines Not Legally Obliged to Provide Non-smoking Seating Judgement in case of nonsmoker placed in smoking section. Agence France-Presse

  • 03/27/97 G. Washington Letter on Tobacco Woes Fetches $38G Unsuccessful tobacco farmer complains about worms wrecking his crop. POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/27/97 Bacall Breathes Out a Perfect Plume of Smoke . . . Watching To Have and Have Not the other night, shortly after the news that an American tobacco company had conceded that cigarettes were addictive and harmful, turned out to be a strange experience. . . Barely a scene in the film is without a wreath of smoke rising from the glowing tip of a cigarette Opinion. The Independent

  • 03/27/97 INVESTING: on the Smith Barney Concert Social Awareness Fund Chicago Tribune POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/27/97 Letter to the Times Sir, You report today that the Liggett Group, US cigarette manufacturers, has agreed to settle smoking-related health claims by paying $25 million and a quarter of its pre-tax profits for the next 25 years. This settlement may raise one or two eyebrows when it is seen that the scale of compensation relies largely on the long-term success of the criticised products. I remain, Sir, your faithfully, J. W. LENNON Times of London

  • 03/26/97 FTC Staff Investigators Urge Case Against RJR's Joe Camel Ads Cite vast amounts of new evidence not available when Commissioners voted, 3-2, against case in 1994. New vote could come within a month. Keywords: Federal Trade Commission, Jodie Bernstein, Timothy Roemer, Victoria Streitfeld, Liggett Group, Brooke Group Ltd, FDA. All Rights Reserved. The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration).

  • 03/26/97 Lawyers Use Liggett Admission to Attack Industry Overview by Lauran Neergaard, AP Fox News

  • 03/26/97 CANADA: Tobacco Maker Saves the Day; Designers Flock to revived ready-to-wear show in Toronto But under the guidance of Designers Ontario president, Franco Mirabelli, and with the sponsorship of Matinee, which has injected about $300,000 into the event, many of the best in Canada's design community have gathered again to put their best finery forward. Ottawa Citizen

  • 03/26/97 MARYLAND: House Ways & Means Cte Passes Higher Cig Tax 15 cents per pack proposal unlikely to pass this late in the session. Washington Times

  • 03/26/97 NEW JERSEY: NJ Transit to Extinguish Tobacco Ads Newark Star-Ledger

  • 03/26/97 ILLINOIS: Cook County to Sue Tobacco Cos. For Health Costs Keywords: Richard Devine, Liggett Group, Bennett LeBow, Brooke Group. Reuters

  • 03/26/97 MINNESOTA: Tobacco Firm Withheld Data, Judge Says Philip Morris is accused of 'egregious' attempt to hide pertinent information. Philip Morris' "attempts at hiding documents in the morass of interlocking related organizations shall not be tolerated by this Court," Fitzpatrick wrote in a decision that included several charts showing the relationship of various Philip Morris entities. "Nor will the Court countenance Philip Morris' self-selected and voluntarily produced set of documents from selected sources." Offshore research at Inbifo at issue. LA Times

  • 03/25/97 CALIFORNIA: SF vs. Big Tobacco, Round 2 The City returns to court Friday or Monday at the latest to butt heads with the butt-heads once more in a lawsuit that could go to the Supreme Court. . . "You got the sense the judge agreed with most of our arguments and gave us a road map. We're going to meet his requirements." Keywords: Scott Winokur, Liggett Group, City Attorney Louise Renne, Elizabeth Laporte, San Francisco, Dan Lungren, Supervisor Angela Alioto, Judge D. Lowell Jensen. SF Examiner

  • 03/26/97 CALIFORNIA: Adult Smoking Rises Sharply From 16.7 in 1995 to 18.6 in 1996. Rise particularly sharp among African- and Asian-Americans. LA Times

  • 03/26/97 NORTH CAROLINA: House Battle over Teen Sales Bill "We're weakening this more and more each time we do something," said Rep. Maggie Jeffus, D-Guilford. Charlotte Observer POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/26/97 BUSINESS: PaineWebber's Private Client Group adds Philip Morris to its Focus List Designed to maximize potential returns and minimize losses, the Focus List is a dynamic, theoretical portfolio of no more than 30 carefully selected stocks. Business Wire

  • 03/26/97 BUSINESS: Philip Morris Companies Inc says Bring named vice chairman Reuters

  • 03/26/97 INSURANCE: Smoke-Free Status Rewarded Preferred rates are the norm for nonsmokers who don't have other major risk factors, so you'll probably receive good news no matter what company you call. Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

  • 03/26/97 HEALTH: Pediatricians Should Step Up Antismoking Campaign Smoking is a pediatric epidemic, and pediatricians must take a more active role in combating the habit in pediatric patients, Dr. Thomas H. Peterson of Michigan Medical in Grand Rapids told physicians at The Children's Hospital in Denver. "Pediatricians are not educated in medical school about how to deal with this problem," Dr. Peterson said, "...but this is where it all starts." Reuters Medical News

  • 03/26/97 OSCAR Party at Morton's Was Smokin' In the center of the room, Romeo & Juliet stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, smoking up a storm, drew a big circle. If you doubted smoking is back, you just had to sniff Morton's smoky air. "Show me the cigarettes!" said Wendy Stark, daughter of producer Ray Stark, whipping out a pack in the ladies' room. Celebratory cigars abounded. -- Jeannie Williams, USA Today

  • 03/25/97 Anti-Smoking Teens Rate the Oscar Nominees Washington Post
    • 03/24/97 Streep Wins 2nd Thumbs-Down "Hackie" in a Row Midler, Keaton, Hawn Win for "First Wives Club" Poster. Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, and Geoffrey Rush were "smokin" in hit films last year -- literally. All three are winners (or is that losers?) of the American Lung Association's (ALA) "Hackademy Awards." Reuters Health eLine

  • 03/29/97 OPINION: How Will the Hill React to Liggett? I have little doubt that members of Congress may argue that they did not know the tobacco industry was purposely deceiving them and the American public, and thus the money they have received and the limited regulatory action they have taken are warranted. But I hope this defense will ring hollow among most voters and that Congress will soon realize that its political livelihood may not depend on looking the other way while its palm is greased. Instead members should act as principled individuals whose decisions are based on the good of society as a whole.--Rafe Forland. Washington Post

  • 03/29/97 FLORIDA: Children's Advocates Urge 10-cent/pack Tax Hike Chiles' all-but-dead tax hike gets lift. Jack Levine, executive director of the Florida Center for Children & Youth, compares tobacco cos' annual reports with children's health care. "It's quite a contrast from the status report of our children." Orlando Sentinel

  • 03/28/97 CALIFORNIA: San Francisco, San Jose & 11 Counties Join Mangini Suit Against RJR over Joe Camel Ads Localities join private citizen's 1991 lawsuit, about to go to trial. Ad agency Mezzina Brown also named in suit. Reuters
    • 03/28/97 Cities Seek to Join Joe Camel Suit "In defiance of (state law), R.J. Reynolds and advertisers sought to encourage the sale of cigarettes to young people," San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne. Counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Ventura.

  • 03/29/97 CALIFORNIA: Anti-smoking Efforts Failing Orange County's Asians LA Times

  • 03/29/97 Cancer-spotting Mouth Rinse Going To Taiwan Zila Awaits Fda Approval On Oratest FDA approval still pending, but OraTest will be sold in Taiwan in May. Arizona Business Gazette

  • 03/29/97 MARYLAND: Increase in Maryland's Tax On Cigarettes Left in Ashes Assembly Puts Key Glendening Proposal on Hold. The Senate overwhelmingly defeated a 30-cent-a-pack increase. In the House, anti-smoking advocates and legislators from rural Southern Maryland united to back a tax so high -- $1 a pack -- that House leaders concluded that it had no chance of passing in the Senate. Tax remains at 36 cents/pack. Washington Post
    • 03/30/97 MARYLAND Rejects Cigarette Tax Increase The tobacco industry, which has endured some setbacks of late, won a victory last week in Maryland that had more to do with local politics than with national health issues. NY Times

  • 03/29/97 PEOPLE: Jean Kilbourne Finishing "Killing Us Softly," Book on "the Marketing of Addictive Products to Women and Girls" Boston Globe

  • 03/29/97 PEOPLE: Japan's Chain-Smoking Prime Minister A little about Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and Japanese smoking habits. US News

  • 03/29/97 THE FUNNY PAPERS: Stacy Curtis on the Liggett Settlement Editorial Cartoon from MS/NBC

  • 03/28/97 Brooke Group Post $62.5 M Loss"> Brooke Group Post $62.5M Loss for 1996 Liggett parent in serious trouble. Revenues fell to $452.7 million from 1995's $461.5 million. But in a sign of improvement, the company said its losses narrowed in the last three months of 1996. AP MSNBC

  • 03/28/97 Views Are Shifting on Tobacco Firms' Liability: USA/CNN Poll Asked whether tobacco companies should be held legally responsible for smoking-related deaths, 52% say warning notices on cigarette packs excuse the companies from responsibility; 28% say the companies should be liable. In 1991, 66% believed warning labels excused responsibility. USA Today

  • 03/28/97 Nicotine Fit: The LeBow Deal Could Mean Open Season on Big Tobacco Business Week

  • 03/28/97 CANADA: Smoking Ban in Toronto is Largely Ignored by Smokers The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)

  • 03/28/97 TURKEY: Deputy Says US and UK Tobacco Firms Lobbying Against Ban Bulent Akarcali, a Turkish deputy from the main opposition Motherland Party (ANAP) on Friday accused U.S. and British tobacco companies for lobbying against a legislation that bans smoking at all government offices and some public places. 'These companies, through well-paid former undersecretaries, are blackmailing that they will suspend all investments in Turkey." Dow Jones (Pay Registration)

  • 03/28/97 Tobacco Industry Federal Probe Urged Reps. Martin T. Meehan, D-Mass., and James V. Hansen, R-Utah, asked for hearings "on whether the tobacco industry has lied about the health effects and addictiveness of tobacco and whether the ... industry has targeted advertising and marketing at children." Bliley says he hasn't received their letters yet. Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/28/97 Blame is Clear-cut--Campaign Contributions--Patrick Reynolds "The reason we have the lowest cigarette tax in the industrialized world . . . is because of the millions of dollars that flow into the hands of our elected leaders from tobacco companies. The more an elected official receives from the tobacco companies, the more likely he is to vote with the tobacco companies' point of view." Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/28/97 VIRGINIA: GOP Candidate Travels to Philip Morris for Fund-Raiser AP Daily Press

    • 03/28/97 Gilmore Does Balancing Act on Tobacco After work one day last week, Virginia Attorney General James S. Gilmore III boarded a Philip Morris company jet, which took him to a fund-raiser at the tobacco giant's New York headquarters. Later that evening, he walked out of a reception with $50,000 for his Republican campaign for governor. Washington Post
    • 03/28/97 VIRGINIA's Gubernatorial Candidate Under Fire for Ties to Philip Morris Republican gubernatorial hopeful James S. Gilmore III raised $50,000 last week at a fund-raiser sponsored by Philip Morris Cos. Inc. at the tobacco giant's New York City headquarters. At the same time, as Virginia's attorney general, Gilmore is siding with Philip Morris and other tobacco companies in a lawsuit challenging the federal Food and Drug Administration's right to regulate tobacco and restrict its advertising. Newport News POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)
    • 03/27/97 Tobacco Giant Aids Gilmore Effort Attorney general raised $50,000 at Philip Morris event in N.Y. Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/28/97 Tobacco Farm Leaders Prepare for Abolition of Price Supports Keywords: Danny McKinney, Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative, Hassel Brown, Tobacco Growers Association, Flue Cured Stabilization Corp, Joe Muldoon, The Commodity Credit Corp. Lexington Herald Leader

  • 03/28/97 KENTUCKY: No Blue Mold Regulations, Ag Chief Says University of Kentucky Agriculture Dean Oran Little tells burley growers that state law doesn't allow for emergency inspections; says education, not regulation will protect crop. Lexington Herald Leader

  • 03/28/97 FLORIDA: Next Round in Tobacco Wars Begins Monday Chiles battles 3rd attempt by tobacco manufacturers and major business lobbies to repeal 1994 law that strips tobacco industry's traditional defenses. Miami Herald

  • 03/28/97 Cigar Bar Mr. Beatie points out that there have been no studies that directly address the hazards of secondhand cigar smoke in public places. But in its written brief, the city lays out fairly strong circumstantial evidence, including chemical analyses of cigar smoke and an epidemiological study of cigar smokers' wives. James Taranto on Russell Beatie's legal challenge to the constitutionality of New York City's 1994 Smokefree Air Act. The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration)

  • 03/28/97 Computational Molecular Dynamics, Inc. Acquires Rights to Three Patent Applications Regarding Safe Tobacco Alternatives . . . applications address the use of nicotine, either individually or with other pharmacologically similar material such as cotinine, and various anticancer substances such as isothiocyanates. Isothiocyanates have demonstrated an effectiveness in preventing cancer induced by tobacco related carcinogens. PRNewswire

  • 03/28/97 U.S. Anti-Drug Czar Tosses Tobacco, Alcohol into Mix of `Gateway' Drugs Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House National Office of Drug Policy predicted that researchers soon will prove a scientific link between cigarettes, marijuana and cocaine. Tallahassee Democrat POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/28/97 Government Should Enforce Cigarette Ban Geoffrey Berg lashes out at retailers. If today's adult smokers regularly received the message, "You can't buy cigarettes here" when they were starting to smoke, 3 percent of the population would be smoking instead of 30 percent and nicotine addiction would not be the leading cause of preventable death in America. Making sure that retailers regularly and consistently deliver this message as the only condition for the privilege of selling tobacco products can hardly be considered heavy-handed government policy. Opinion. (Providence, RI) Journal-Bulletin POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/28/97 HEALTH: Smoking Linked to Later Mental Impairment Of more than 3,000 people whose mental abilities were measured at about age 77, those who remained continuous smokers and those who had quit at or after late middle-age had lower mental scores than people who never smoked cigarettes. . . . Dr. David Galanis and colleagues from the University of Hawaii's Cancer Research Center in Honolulu found a 36% greater risk of cognitive impairment among those who smoked continuously since their 50s and smokers who quit in later years than in men who had never smoked. . . he findings indicate that "smoking may be positively related" not only to non-Alzheimer's forms of dementia, "but also to dementia due to Alzheimer's disease." Reuters Health eLine

  • 03/31/97 New Tools for Public Relations Firms Nice roundup of Burson-Marsteller and others on the Web..

  • 03/31/97 FTC May Expand Investigation Beyond Joe Camel On CourtTV this weekend, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Robert Pitofsky said that a renewed investigation into R.J. Reynolds "Joe Camel" campaign may open the door to a broader investigation of tobacco advertising. About Joe Camel, he said, "We haven't had a chance to have the Reynolds people in to give us their side of the story on what is claimed to be new evidence. Their assertion is that there's no connection between the campaign and consumption and certainly no connection between the campaign and consumption by underage smokers," he said. "And we'll just have to see what the facts are." Reuters

  • 03/31/97 ILLINOIS: Outlook Bleak for Tobacco Legislation Though some lawmakers say it is time for the Illinois General Assembly to address teen smoking, the failure of powerful special interest groups to agree on a plan has left little hope of any action before fall. Numerous tobacco-related bills were introduced this year, but most were not acted upon as deadlines for both the House and Senate to deal with legislation came and went. POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/31/97 CALIFORNIA Counties Refile Tobacco Suit On last day for filing amended suit, San Francisco, et. al.. revive lawsuit dismissed last month. "The emphasis is on the fraud and special duty claim," Cheng said. "We're very confident that the judge will look favorably on our approach." Reuters

  • 03/31/97 WASHINGTON AG Gregoire Fights for Release of Tobacco Documents will go to court this week to get sensitive tobacco company documents deposited in King County Superior Court. PR Newswire

  • 03/31/97 ABC Spotlight Scrutinzes Drug Abuse Some of the controversies. James B. Twitchell, author of a new book on advertising, "Adcult USA," says he sees "a mild irony" in watching the ad biz, in effect, try to unsell the booze, smokes and pills it's been pushing for years. SF Examiner

  • 03/31/97 HEALTH: SIDS, Smoking Linked in Study Of 33 babies who died from SIDS in Pinellas County from 1991 through 1995, 18, or 55 percent, had mothers who said they had smoked during pregnancy, reports the Healthy Start Coalition of Pinellas County St. Petersburg Times

  • 03/31/97 Anti-Smoking Ads Aim to Gross Out Teens Arizona's "smelly, puking" ads--and merchandise. The Wall Street Journal (Pay Registration). Here's the article from POST NEt POSTNet ("hot off the wires"--expires quickly)

  • 03/31/97 Burning Legal Issues Nice roundup of upcoming litigation. Newsday

  • 03/31/97 FLORIDA: Tobacco clash set to resume in Legislature Month-long drama in Tallahassee starts today with meeting of the House Governmental Rules and Regulations Committee. Timing is crucial. Lobbyists want to get the bill repealing the law through the Legislature and on the governor's desk before the session ends. If they succeed, Chiles will have only seven days to veto the bill. And if the veto comes while legislators are still in town, there likely would be a showdown, as supporters push to override the it before the session ends May 2. St. Petersburg Times

  • 03/31/97 Smoking Health Debate Sparks War of Words . . . as each side tries to gain the rhetorical high ground: addiction vs. habit; dependency vs. personal choice; youth marketing vs. legal advertising. Terminology and its discontents. Example: People who discourage smoking don't oppose the average blue- or even white-collar worker at Philip Morris USA, Dukes said. Rather, it's the corporate executives in New York, and their functionaries in Washington, who are viewed as "the industry." Amusing and trenchant article by Chip Jones, Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • 03/28/97 Toasting Stogies Bay Area Wine Makers Roll but Their Own Cigars Seeking to cash in on the cigar craze, major Bay Area wine makers have fired up plans to launch their own brands of premium smokes. Wine producers including Wente Vineyards, the Mondavi family, Boisset U.S.A. and Sutter Home Winery, and the nation's largest wine distributor, Southern Wines & Spirits, are all investing big bucks to jump on the cigar bandwagon. San Francisco Business Times

  • 03/31/97 OPINION: News to Believe: Perhaps Smoking Really Does Cause Cancer As for California's newest assault on smoking, the witty, thought-provoking ad campaign on radio, television and billboards won't reach everyone. The best radio ad features the voice of someone claiming to be a tobacco industry representative. Patriotic music soars in the background while the gravely voiced official congratulates kids who smoke. "Your ignorance is astounding and should be applauded," he says. "Our tobacco products kill 420,000 of your parents and grandparents every year, and yet you've stuck by us. That kind of blind allegiance is hard to find." Found smoking outside the Arden Fair Mall, Brian Douheeny, 17, said with a slight laugh that he's heard the ads and finds them both pointed and funny. "They did make me think, but it's not going to make me stop smoking," he said, shrugging his shoulders and taking a long drag. "When I want a cigarette, I want one and I'm not thinking about the harmful effects then. Besides, I'll quit before I'm too old." Nando Net

  • 03/31/97 UK: Smoking is Bad for Your Video Recorder JVC techs examine problem machine: "Nicotine deposits inside the machine have caused excessive drag on tapes, wearing down the heads." Times of London

  • 03/31/97 CESSATION Rate Rises In Nurse-Led, Managed Care Program A significant smoking quit rate can be achieved when a tobacco cessation program is sponsored by a managed care organization, led by nurses and carried out in multiple primary care settings, says Dr. Jaan Sidorov in an article in The American Journal of Managed Care. . . a quit rate of 30.5% was achieved after one year of a smoking cessation program sponsored by the Geisinger Health Plan in Pennsylvania. This compares with one-year quit rates of up to 15% reported in the medical literature. "Moreover, our high quit rate was achieved in multiple primary care clinics, which has not been previously reported. . . Our data suggest that the availability of counseling is the most important determinant of successful quit rates, as opposed to financial incentives linked to the costs of nicotine replacement therapy," Reuters Medical News

  • 03/30/97 CESSATION: New Way to Quit: Keep Smoking From Duke University, in the heart of America's tobacco country, comes a novel idea to help smokers kick the habit: keep smoking. Duke researchers are studying the effects of a drug that when used while smoking will block the nicotine from cigarettes. . . The drug, Mecamylamine, may not be available for at least another year, but it's one of the new weapons in the age-old fight to stop smoking. Fayetteville Observer-Times

  • 03/31/97 Harris Poll: Tobacco Only Industry with Negative Ratings Poll taken in Feb., before Liggett. 70-80% think medical doctors, telephone companies, computer companies pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, banks and car manufacturers do a good job of servicing their customers. Percentage for tobacco not given. Reuters Fox News

  • 03/31/97 ARIZONA: Casa Grande Smoking Youths to Have Option City Court may offer choice of fine/suspension or smoking cessation class. Arizona Daily Star

  • 03/31/97 WISCONSIN: Anti-Smoking Ad Campaign Targets Teens Statewide TV/radio spot starts today. The anti-smoking commercial was created by the marketing firm of Hughes, Ruch & Murphy and Frank Anderson, an Appleton musician, animator and director, as a public service. It features a singing, dancing, animated cigarette package with an Ethel Merman-kind of voice. In 30 seconds, the spot gets across the message that a third of those who take up smoking will die of related diseases. It ends in a graveyard. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  • 03/30/97 MARYLAND, VIRGINIA: Schools Try to Smoke Out Nico-Teens It's War. They're locking some restrooms, removing the doors of others and offering rewards to students who keep the toilet stalls smoke-free, but Washington area high school principals say they just can't keep teenagers from lighting up at school. Washington Post

  • 03/30/97 Virginia: Tobacco Money Lubricates Political Wheels All the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor have taken some tobacco-related money in the last two years. So have 96 of Virginia's 140 state legislators, according to a computer survey of campaign finance reports. The data were compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project at the Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Public Policy. Brief rundown. AP Nando net

  • 03/30/97 Liggett CEO Ordered to Discuss Documents AP Raleigh News & Observer

  • 03/30/97 OSHA Not Required to Set Standards on Secondhand Smoke In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has concluded that the deadlines in the regulatory timetable are not mandatory. As such, the judges rejected a petition by Action on Smoking and Health, a public interest group, to force OSHA to comply with the law. But one of the judges [Judge Patricia Wald] . . . said OSHA still has an obligation "to proceed with due speed" in coming up with the standards. Arizona Daily Star

  • 03/30/97 UK: Smoker Sues Over Tobago Arrest Ordeal for Lighting Up A BRITISH woman is suing authorities on the Caribbean island of Tobago after she was arrested, assaulted and thrown in a police cell for smoking a cigarette. Susan Howard and her boyfriend, Dr Paul Rainsbury, a fertility expert, have issued a writ for damages against the Trinidad and Tobago ministry of national security following an 18-hour ordeal. They allege assault and wrongful imprisonment. Dr Rainsbury, who caused an outcry last month when he announced plans to offer couples the chance to select the sex of their unborn child, had been invited to Trinidad by its ministry of health to attend a conference. Electronic Telegraph

  • 03/30/97 EDITORIAL: Fresh Air From a Cigarette Maker At the very least, the tobacco giants should be forced to redirect their marketing campaigns away from young people. The companies should not be permitted to replace the 1 million customers they lose each year to death and abstinence from among the most vulnerable and impressionable members of society. Boston Globe

  • 03/30/97 OPINION: Endgame for the Tobacco Industry The end is not to ban tobacco. Not even ferocious antismoking activists want to turn cigarettes into a new class of illegal drugs and smokers into criminals. . . . This fact is what has made the antismoking campaign the most complex public health issue since the surgeon general declared that cigarettes are hazardous to your health. We have a product that kills people and can't be taken off the market. Every health strategy is devised around this conundrum. . . We need a strategy, like the tough new California ads, to persuade teenagers to rebel. Rebel, that is, against manipulation by the tobacco folk. After all, as Harvard's William De Jong says, it's time the kids saw the tobacco folks as "the geeks in blue suits.' Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe

  • 03/31/97 MARYLAND: Foes of Tobacco Lost Big in Legislature--Again Great article digs inside the lobbying world. C. Fraser Smith, Baltimore Sun

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  • ©1997 Gene Borio, Tobacco BBS (212-982-4645). WebPage: http://www.tobacco.org).Original Tobacco BBS material may be reprinted in any non-commercial venue if accompanied by this credit

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