Why are tobacco companies allowed to spend $11/2 billion dollars per year to pro­ mote deadly products-with many of their messages intended for children? How can this situation be tolerated? How did it arise? What can we do about it? Can pro­ tection be achieved in a manner compati­ ble with free enterprise and individual freedom? How should the rights of smokers and nonsmokers be balanced? Must nonsmokers subsidize the cost of treating cigarette-induced disease? How much protection should nonsmokers have from drifting cigarette smoke? How can smokers escape from the grip of nicotine addiction and psychological dependence on smoking? Dr. Elizabeth Whelan addresses these and other important questions as she examines how the tobacco industry de­ veloped and thrived during the 20th century, creating an unprecedented chain of economic and physical dependence. She discusses the early launching of the Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan is Executive Di­ cigarette, its initial rejection by those ac­ rector of the American Council on Science customed to the more "manly" pipe and and Health. She holds advanced degrees in cigar, and finally, its stellar success, result­ epidemiology and public health education ing in large part from an unparalleled from the Yale School of Medicine and the advertising blitz. Harvard School of Public Health, and has In many ways, the cigarette represents written extensively on a variety of topics just plain bad li.ick. By the time that the relating to the environment and public data on cigarette smoking and disease be­ health. Dr. Whelan resides in New York came conclusive in the 1950s, a substan­ City with her husband and daughter. tial portion of the U.S. population was hooked and the tobacco industry had es­ tablished a firm grip on our economy. Yet, as Dr. Whelan points out, our apathetic acceptance of the cigarette has begun to wane somewhat in recent years; as· more and more Americans become aware of the cigarette's deleterious impact on our soci­ ety, this accep.tance will turn into rejection. Jacket design by George Austino A SMOKING GUN:_ ..... How the Tobacco Industry Gets Away With Murder "We can no longer afford, as a nation or as individuals, to ignore the scientific proof or the human suffering and the loss of life caused by cigarette smoking." -Mrs. Barney Clark, wife of the world's first artificial heart recipient "Our teens are being given the message that cigarette smoking is grown up, that 'CAMEL is where a man belongs' and that 'KOOL is the only way to play it: Seductive advertising and peer pressure influence some 5,000 children to light up for the first time each day. A SMOKING GUN exam­ ines the forces responsible for the continued popularity of cigarette smok­ ing among young people, and offers ammunition to fight back." -Robert Keeshan, TV's Captain Kangaroo "While some progress has been made against cigarette smoking, the battle is far from over. There are still some 55 million smokers in the United States, and each year more than 300,000 die prematurely. American consumers must be provided with the facts about smoking and the ciga­ rette industry if the battle is to be won:' -Scott Ballin, J.D., American Heart Association ''A single case of botulism results in over a million cans of Bon Vivant vichyssoise being recalled and a plant goes out of business. A Ford drops an axle and six million cars are recalled. Yet there has never been a recall of a single brand of cigarettes, notwithstanding the more than 300,000 Americans who die each year as a result of using this product. A SMOKING GUN is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand how and why the cigarette industry is literally selling consumers a pack of lies and getting away with murder:' -Alan Blum, M.D., Editor, New York State Journal of Medicine "While a SMOKING GUN makes fascinating reading for everyone, it should definitely be on the 'must read' list of every smoker or potential smoker. If I had been fully informed about the dangers of smoking and the way in which the tobacco industry was manipulating me, perhaps I would have quit many years ago and it wouldn't have taken a diagnosis of lung cancer to finally make me kick the habit:' -Anthony Defilippo, ex-smoker GEORGE F. S ............ ·~· COMPANY 210 West on Square PhiladeRI' -..~~ 19106 A SMOKING GUN: HOW THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY GETS AWAY WITH MURDER OTHER BOOKS BY ELIZABETH M. WHELAN The 100% Natural, Purely Organic, Cholesterol-Free, Megavitamin, Low-Carbohydrate Nutrition Hoax (with EJ. Stare, M.D.) 1983 Nutrition During Pregnancy 1982 The Expectant Parents' Survival Guide 1982 The Pregnancy Experience 1978 Eat OK - Feel OK (with EJ. Stare, M.D.) 1978 Preventing Cancer: What You Can Do to Reduce Your Risks by Up to 50% 1978 Boy or Girl? 1977 A Baby? ... Maybe 1975 Panic in the Pantry: Food Facts, Fads and Fallacies (with EJ. Stare, M.D.) 1975 Making Sense Out of Sex (with S.T. Whelan, M.D.) 1975 Sex and Sensibility 1974 A SMOKING GUN: HOW THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY GETS AWAY WITH MURDER Elizabeth M. Whelan,,,, Sc.D., M.P.H. Executive Director American Council on Science and Health A People's Health Library Book Edited by Stephen Barrett, M.D. George E Stickley Co. 210 West Washington Square Philadelphia, PA 19106 The People's Health Library is a series of easy-to-read books written by experts who explain health and health care concepts for the general public. For a complete list of titles, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the George E Stickley Company, 210 West Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19106. ({1~ ,:_<-{ .. -· C: ··iJ c ~ Copyright © 1984 by Elizabeth Whelan ISBN-0-89313-039-7 Library of Congress Card 84-050685 All Rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means-graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems-without permission from the publisher. Manufactured in the United States of America; Published by the George E Stickley Company, 210 W. Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19106 Contents Foreword by Luther L. Terry, M.D. lX Preface xiii PART I: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY 1. The paradox of cigarettes in the health-conscious '80s 1 · 2. Tobacco or health: the risks of smoking 9 3. Fourteen ploys that can kill you 15 PART IT: A BACKWARD GLANCE 4. In the beginning, there were no cigarettes 28 5. A triumph of American ingenuity 40 6. When Camels became kings 47 7. The cigarette hit parade: 1920-1940 56 8. Luckies go to war 72 9. The evidence mounts 81 10. The saga of the '60s 97 11. Showdown in Marlboro country 109 12. Joe Califano and the politics of smoking in the '70s 120 13. Is there a safe tobacco product? 133 PART Ill: MANDATES FOR ACTION 14. Reflections on a burning issue 141 15. Smokers should carry their load 146 16. "Sue the bastards!" 154 17. Exploitation of developing countries should be ended 166 18. Cigarette advertising should be stopped 177 ' 19. Nonsmokers should be protected 191 20. The smokescreen must be lifted 201 21. Smoking cessation: an overview 212 APPENDIX A. Tobacco's industrial network 225 APPENDIX B. Helpful organizations 228 I APPENDIX C. Recommended reading 230 INDEX 234 About the Author Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan is co-founder and Executive Director of the American Council on Science and Health, a New York-based not-for­ profi.t, tax exempt consumer education group directed by a panel of some 100 American physicians and other scientists. Dr. Whelan is a graduate of Connecticut College, received a Master's degree from the Yale School of Medicine, and Master's and Doctoral degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health. She is a frequent contributor to both popular and profes­ sional publications and one of the nation's leading proponents of the question "smoking or health?" She is married to attorney Stephen T. Whelan; they and their daughter, Christine, live in Manhattan. About the Editor Stephen Barrett, M.D., a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer on con­ sumer health, is author/editor of 16 books, including The Health Robbers (a comprehensive expose of quackery), Vitamins and "Health " Foods­ The Great American Hustle, and the college textbook Consumer Health-A Guide to Intelligent Decisions. An expert in medical com­ munications, he is Editor of Nutrition Forum newsletter and is a scientific and editorial advisor to the American Council on Science and Health. vi Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Paul Magnus, Medical Associate at the National Office of Heart Research in Australia, for his encouragement and criticism-and for providing access to his extensive research materials on smoking and health. Dr. Magnus is one of a very small number of individuals who have focused in depth on the magnitude of the health chaos caused by cigarettes and are dedicated to speaking out about it. Thanks are due to Cathy Becker Popescu, Research Associate at the American Council on Science and Health, for the sometimes tedious library research for this work and for her major contribution to the chap­ ters of this book dealing with litigation, nonsmokers' rights, the economic impact of cigarette smoking, and the tragedy of cigarettes in the Third World. Lee Francis and Cheryl Martin helped greatly with their research and typing efforts. And Dr. Stephen Barrett did a superb job of editing the manuscript on his legendary IBM word processor. I am also indebted to Federal Trade Commissioner Michael Pertshuk; William Rothbard, FTC Attorney Advisor; John M.