Tobacco chiefs still refuse to see the truth  


Seven of America's least conscionable
men sat together in Washington last
week to do what they do best: blow
smoke at the truth about cigarettes.
  The CEOs of the nation's largest tobacco
firms told a congressional panel that nicotine
is not addictive, that they are unconvinced
that smoking causes lung cancer or any other
illness, and that smoking is no more harmful
than drinking coffee or eating Twinkies.
  They said these things with straight faces.
  They said them in the face of massive
scientific evidence that smoking is responsible 
for more than 400,000 deaths every year.
  Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., put that
frightful statistic another way:
  "Imagine our nation's outrage if two fully
loaded jumbo jets crashed each day, killing all
aboard.  That's the same number of Americans
that cigarettes kill every 24 hours."
  The CEOs were not impressed.
  "We have looked at the data. ... It does
not convince me that smoking causes death,"
said Andrew Tisch of the Lorillard Tobacco
Co.



  He and the others played dumb for the 
entire six hours, but it really didn't matter.
  The game is nearly over, and the tobacco
executives know it.
  The hearing marked a turning point in the
nation's growing aversion to cigarettes. No
longer hamstrung by tobacco-state seniority
and the deep-pocketed tobacco lobby,
Congress is taking aim at cigarette makers.


  The tobacco industry would like to promote
the specter of prohibition.
  "If cigarettes are too dangerous to be sold,
then ban them.  Some smokers will obey the
law, but many will not.  People will be selling
cigarettes out of the trunks of cars, cigarettes
made by who knows who, made of who knows 
what," said James Johnston of R.J. Reynolds.
  It's a ruse.  He knows cigarettes are not 
going to be banned, at least not in his lifetime.
What he really fears are new taxes, stronger
anti-smoking campaigns, further smoking
restrictions, limits on secondhand smoke and
limits on tar and nicotine.
  Collectively, these steps can accelerate the
current 5 percent annual decline in cigarette
use and turn the tobacco business from highly
profitable to depressed.
  Johnson's comment about cigarettes "made
of who knows what" was comical.
  The day before the hearing, the tobacco
companies released a long-secret list of 599
additives used in cigarettes.  The companies
said all are certified by an "independent


panel" of toxicologists as "not hazardous
under the conditions they are used."
  People not paid by the tobacco companies
aren't so sure. The list includes several
substances the government does not allow in
foods or classifies as potentially toxic.  They
include ammonia, a pesticide called
methoprene, and ethyl furoate,  which has
caused liver damage in rats.
  The list "begs a number of important
questions about the safety of these additives,"
said a joint statement from the American
Lung, Cancer and Heart associations.  The
statement added that substances safe to eat
aren't necessarily safe to inhale.
  The 50-page list can be obtained free by
calling 1-800-852-8749.
  Here are just the 44 ingredients that start
with the letter "A":
  Acetanisole, acetic acid, acetoin,
acetophenone, 6-acetoxydihydrotheaspirane,
2-acetyl-3-ethylpyrazine, 2-acetyl-5-
methylfuran, acetylpyrazine, 2-acetylpyridine,
3-acetylpyridine, 2-acetylthiazole, aconitic


   STEVE WILSON
  Republic Columnist