SMOKING NATIONWIDE CRUSADE IN U.S. TO SNUFF OUT CIGARETTES

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32265, 7 April 1970, Page 14

SMOKING NATIONWIDE CRUSADE IN U.S. TO SNUFF OUT CIGARETTES

(By

PETER BENCHLEY.

Newsweek Feature Service)

Scratch the soul of America and you will find a nation of reformers in search of a cause. Not since Carrie Nation tore into the whisky trade with her hatchet half a century ago have the reformers found a really well-entrenched social custom to attack. But now, at long last, a target has been sighted: the lowly cigarette.

Many Americana are taking t tbe anti-smoking cause to j their collective breast and, t urged on by government rulings, television campaigns [ and social pressures, they are i mounting a full-scale nation- j wide crusade. < Misocapnism (or hatred of 1 tobacco) has generated a J Washington lobby all of its 1 own, has mobilised whole 1 communities and has spawned t at least one feature film. But 1 beyond that, it has even i become a growing business; i profit-making stop-smoking i clinics are now opening across the country. 1 i New Folk Heroes 1 The new war on the weed,' moreover, has contributed 1 some new folk heroes to' American lore men like 1 Stanley Hartman, a Portland, 1 Oregon, druggist, who has 1 been marketing black-and- 1 white packages of Cancer' brand cigarettes (“a daring 1 tobacco combination”). Hart- 1 man has run advertisements 1 in local newspapers noting that “If you have Cancer,' extra length means nothing.” 1 Lately, he has sued several 1 tobacco producers and dis- 1 tributors for shutting off his supply of cigarettes. From the beginning, the attacks on the cigarette have been a constant series of sorties against America's persistent refusal to heed the mountain of evidence showing cigarettes to be harmful. The American Cancer Society led the first charge in the mid-19505, but still the United States consumption of cigarettes grew. The famous Surgeon-Gen-eral’s report about cancer and cigarettes brought a minor dip in consumption in 1964, but the victory was only temporary. More and more Americans kept puffing away. “Fairness Doctrine” The first major breakthrough came in 1967 when the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the so-called “fairness doctrine” applied to cigarette advertising and ordered broadcasters to give anti-smoking forces air time to state their case. Since then, commercials made by the United States Public Health Service, the American Heart Association and the Cancer Society have been running at a rate of about one for every four or five regular cigarette advertisements. Apparently their message is getting across. The Public Health Service’s National < Clewing House on Smoking and Health has reported that between 1966 and 1968 the number of United States adult smokers dropped by 5 per cent In 1966, American smokers consumed 541.2 billion cigarettes; in 1969, the number was down to 529 billion. Most encouraging were statistics showing a 7.5 per cent drop in the number of smokers in the 17 to 24-year-old bracket Another drop is expected this year, and Public Health ( Service officials look forward , to an even bigger reduction in smoking when a new Federal law banning all I broadcasting advertising for I cigarettes takes effect next ; January 2. Arwnjitt Stepped Up But the battle is far from won. Forty-nine million adults still smoke cigarettes in this country, at a per capita rate of 4000 a year. The tobacco industry is certain to re-route a sizable portion of the more than $2OO

million it now spends every year on television into print media. So the crusaders are stepping up their assault on the weed, whittling away at its pervasive presence with every weapon available. A Washington lobby called Action on Smoking and Health has asked the Federal Aviation Agency to order that smokers be segregated from non-smokers on aeroplanes. (Some airlines have no-smoking sections on their new 7475.) The consumer crusader, Ralph Nader, seeks an outright ban on smoking in aeroplanes and on buses, noting that non-smokers can be affected by cigarette smoke in a closed environment. There is also some evidence (albeit indirect) that cigarette smoking may contribute to danger In the air. One mid-air collision . occurred just after a flight crew was distracted by an ashtray fire in the cockpit Another major crash is thought to have occurred as a result of a fuselage fire fueled by spilled lighter fluid. A group called the National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health is trying to portray cigarette smoking as socially gauche, ugly and offensive Women’s - page ' editors sometimes advise hostesses to hide their ashtrays and then urge smokers , to step outside. Three pro- , fessional hockey teams , (Detroit, Montreal and • Toronto) have forbidden smoking at their home rinks.

Stars Join In Movie and television stars have joined the fray. Some, like Tony Curtis and Richard Boone, have made antismoking commercials. Others —Doris Day and Lawrence Welk, to name a couplehave refused to accept cigarette advertising for their shows. Paradoxically, some broadcasters have responded to the campaign with enthusiasm, and it has paid off in increased audience. Radio station W.E.E.L. in Fairfax, Virginia, announces the time thus: “It’s 2.45. Stop Smoking.” W.B.Z. in Boston gives away “Stomp Smoking" bumper stickers to anyone who sends in a non-smoking pledge. The first day after the station advertised the gimmick in the local papers, it received 5300 pledges. The idea of whole towns getting together to kick the habit was bom last summer, when United Artists Corporation went to Greenfield,

lowa, (population. 2243) to make the movie “Cold Turkey” starring Dick Van Dyke. The plot of the film, which is due for release in December, revolves around an eccentric millionaire’s gift of SUS2S million to a town if every resident will stop smoking. Three hundred and seventy-six Greenfielders contributed to the picture’s publicity by signing pledges, and so far more than 50 have kept them. Other towns, such as Randolph, Massachusetts, have used the no-smoking crusade to raise money. Asked to stop smoking for one day and to contribute what they would have spent on cigarettes to a school scholarship fund, residents of the town of 28,000 coughed up SUS3SOO. No-Smoking Clinics On the theory that misery —especially the misery of nicotine withdrawal desperately needs company, entrepreneurs have established no-smoking clinics. For fees that range from SUS2 to SUS2O per session, cigarette addicts get together, talk about their agony and get advice about specific techniques to help them through difficult periods. A franchising outfit called Smoke Watchers International, for instance, urges its clients to separate “habit” smokes from “emotional” smokes. One of the most rugged habit cigarettes to give up for most people is the one with breakfast coffee. Smoke Watchers has various suggestions, though, on bow to do it including switching to tea and leaving the table immediately once the meal is finished instead of lingering over the newspaper. i Despite its substantial sup- . port of the anti-smoking ; forces, the Federal Govern- . ment shapes up as the next ’ —and most critical—target . of the crusade. The outcome ■ of this last battle may well determine the smoking habits . of the next several genera- . tions. For while it makes antii smoking commercials with > one hand, with the other the , Government supports tobacco 5 prices, pays people more to . grade tobacco than it spends ; on all anti-smoking education . and promotes United States i tobacco overseas with Agri- ; culture Department films. The crusaders are already i arming themselves for the fight. “The Government," says Democratic Senator Frank : Moss, of Utah, a leader of Congressional anti-smokers, “is now in a position of sup- ' porting something it has , declared hazardous.”