Tobacco Industry Says More To Be Known

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30337, 13 January 1964, Page 11

Tobacco Industry Says More To Be Known

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright)

NEW YORK, January 11. The American tobacco industry said in a statement tonight that the Government report on smoking and health published today was “not the final chapter.” “There is still a great deal to be known on the subject,” said a statement signed by Mr George V. Allen, president of the Tobacco Institute, Inc. He said that the American tobacco industry was ready to co-operate with the Government and with other groups to help fill the gaps in present knowledge about the effects of cigarette smoking. Mr Allen’s statement said: “While it is obviously not possible for me to comment in detail on this 387-page report so soon after receiving it, a few observations seem immediately pertinent. “ . . . Further research is needed. As Surgeon-General Terry pointed out, there is a great deal yet to be known on the subject. “He specifically rejected a suggestion that there was no

longer need for additional research. In short, this report is not the final chapter.” The Tobacco Institute, founded in 1958, includes American companies making 99 per cent of the nation’s cigarettes and other tobacco products. It describes its functions as "to compile and disseminate information about the industry.” In Raleigh, North Carolina, Governor Terry Sanford of the tobacco-producing State described the report as “an inconclusive rehash of old information.”