[Intl-tobacco] Washington Post on FCTC

[Robert Weissman]

Tobacco's Smoke and Mirrors
The Washington Post
Monday, October 23, 2000; Page A22

   THE TOBACCO industry, which sells products that kill millions of
people
   each year, is doing its best to sound reasonable. Earlier this month
   David Davies, a senior official at Philip Morris, admitted that
smoking is
   addictive and causes disease. That represented an advance: Until
quite
   recently, Philip Morris only conceded that tobacco was addictive "as
   that term is commonly understood"; and the firm used to cite evidence

   for tobacco's links to illness without saying whether or not it
agreed with
   it. Admittedly, Philip Morris still maintains it is proud of its
death-dealing
   products. But it professes itself eager to work with an international
effort
   to regulate tobacco that got underway last week at the World Health
   Organization in Geneva.

   How eager? For the moment, the industry seems to be pushing the least

   effective type of reform: It wants new regulations that would allow
it to
   market supposedly safer cigarettes. Unfortunately, there is no such
thing
   as a safe cigarette. In the United States, R.J. Reynolds has begun
advertising what it claims is a "reduced-risk" cigarette, but
   this month a study commissioned by the Massachusetts Department of
Public Health suggested that this product is no safer
   than "ultralight" brands already on the market. Besides, even if a
genuinely safer cigarette could be found, people might
   smoke more, so "safer" might turn out to be more dangerous.

   The goal should be to encourage smokers to quit and to prevent the
tobacco firms from hooking new smokers. Higher
   cigarette taxes are a start. A recent study by the World Bank found
that a 10 percent rise in cigarette prices might induce 40
   million people to quit smoking and deter others from acquiring the
habit, so preventing about 10 million premature deaths.
   Marketing restrictions can help too, especially in the developing
world--where current restrictions are lax and smoking is
   spreading quickly. The World Health Organization is pushing both
responses at its Geneva meeting. If tobacco firms were to
   support these, it would be time to take their new image seriously.

                                     © 2000 The Washington Post Company