Pubdate: Wed, 13 Oct 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: The Associated Press

PHILIP MORRIS - TOBACCO ISN'T SAFE

NEW YORK - The world's biggest cigarette company's
acknowledgment that smoking is dangerous and addictive is spurring
renewed calls for federal regulation of tobacco and greater efforts to
keep children from taking their first puff.

Philip Morris Cos. Inc., which owns the tobacco company that makes
best-selling Marlboro and other cigarettes, publicly acknowledged with
the debut of its corporate Internet site Wednesday that smokers face
serious health risks.

The declarations by Philip Morris follow years in which it fiercely
argued with government and medical authorities over the risks of smoking.

President Clinton said Philip Morris' acknowledgment that tobacco
isn't safe ``comes far too late but still we must all welcome it. It
can be the beginning of clearing the air.''

``It certainly makes clear, as I have said for years, that the tobacco
companies should answer for their actions in court,'' the president
said Wednesday. ``They should stop marketing their products to
children. And certainly they should do much more to reduce youth
smoking.''''

The Justice Department filed suit against the tobacco companies last
month seeking to recover billions of dollars in federal health costs
for treating sick smokers. The states already have settled with the
industry for $246 billion over 25 years.

Philip Morris posted its comments on smoking's risks as it launched a
$100 million advertising campaign to remake the company's image, which
has taken a beating as smokers, unions and the government have sued
the tobacco makers for compensation for the health consequences of
smoking.

``In some ways I recognize this is a public relations effort,'' said
David Kessler, the former head of the federal Food and Drug
Administration, said in an interview. ``But it certainly sets the
stage for regulation of tobacco products.''

Kathryn Kahler Vose, an executive with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free
Kids, said Philip Morris ``had no choice but to change what it has
been saying about its products'' but added it must go further since
its Marlboro brand regularly ranks as the industry's best seller among
children as well as adults.

``Even though it is saying `Here is the evidence,' it is not saying
that it will change its marketing practices,'' she said.

The Philip Morris Web site offers links to research on smoking from
groups like the U.S. Surgeon General, the World Health Organization
and the American Cancer Society.

``There is an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that
cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and
other serious diseases in smokers,'' the Web site says. ``Smokers are
far more likely to develop serious diseases, like lung cancer, than
non-smokers.''

It also says that ``there is no `safe' cigarette'' and that
``cigarette smoking is addictive, as that term is most commonly used
today.''

The site even offers advice on quitting smoking and on interpreting
tobacco tar and nicotine ratings. It also lists the ingredients in
each of its brands, though not the proportions.

Last April, Brown & Williamson Tobacco, the third-biggest U.S. tobacco
company, unveiled a Web site that said the company believes smokers
``are taking significant health risks.''

Some anti-tobacco activists argue that the Philip Morris Web site and
the advertising campaign which shows how Philip Morris has helped the
hungry, battered wives and flood victims were aimed at the juries who
are either hearing or will later be chosen to hear cases against the
tobacco makers.

They also said the company wants to publicize the risks of smoking in
case someone who starts smoking today may sue the industry later.

``They want to establish a new threshold for tomorrow's cases 15 years
down the line,'' said Ahron Leichtman, who heads Citizens for a
Tobacco-Free Society, a Cincinatti-based coalition of anti-tobacco
groups.

Kessler said the most important of Philip Morris' disclosures is its
acknowledgment that cigarette smoking is addictive.

``Once you know that you are engaged in selling product that is
addictive and that virtually all smokers begin smoking as children,
then you have a responsibility to reduce the number of people who
become addicted,'' he said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The relevant page at Philip Morris's Web site is
www.philipmorris.com/tobacco--bus/tobacco--issues/health--issues.html
- ---
MAP posted-by: Derek Rea