SKOKING AND HEALTH
A B.A.T. Booklet for Stalf
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BATCo document for Province of British Columbia 29
October 1999


INTRODUCTION
This document sets out the B.A.T views on smoking
with the intention of
providing an informed and balanced view of the
smoking and health issues
and of those that concern us in the developing
nations. Smoking is a
complex subject and all of us who work in the
tobacco industry are aware of
the controversial issues involved.
The controvers- remains because a substantial body
of scientific and medical
opinion links smoking with various diseases on the
basis of statistical
association. -A-1though this association does not
mean that smoking is proven
to be a direct cause of disease, many Governments
have adopted the view
that cigarettes are hazardous to health. There is
a minority of doctors
and scientists, however, who do not agree with the
interpretation of the
statistics. 1~iese individuals believe that the
relationship may be a
reflection of ---actors other than smoking such as
the personality of smokers,
their diet, occupation and to the effect
of"atmospheric pollution.
B.A.T is a responsible company and it is our task
to provide a range of
smoking products that will meet changing market
preferences which are
moulded by various factors including the publicity
given to scientific
developments as well as cultural and economic
trends. The company currently
invests some E25m. worldwide in research related
to its products. Such
research has been a factor in the emergence of low
tar cigarettes which are
acceptable to the consumer. These products are
increasingly being seen by
the industry and the community to represent the
direction of the industry's
future develc=ment.
In many rapidly developing parts of the world,
B.A.T plays a positive role
which will comtinue to serve the interests of leaf
producers and Governments
as well as consumers.
Commercial life is never easy and there will
always be new challenges to
meet. It is intended that this document will show
how these challenges are
being tackled in a responsible manner which
reflects the high standards
that have forned the basis of the company's
success.
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THE SMOKING AND HEALTH BACKGROUND
The debate about smoking and health began to
develop in the 1930s. However,
it was not until the 1950s that it became a
subject for detailed medical
and scientific investigation, primarily by means
of epidemiology which is
the statistical study of illness and disease in
certain groups of people.
From the start, the major area of concern has been
disease of the lung,
predominantly cancer but also emphysema and
bronchitis. Many statistical
studies have shown that more smokers are likely to
suffer from lung illness
than non-smokers. In recent years, a statistical
relationship has also
been identified between several factors, including
smoking, and heart disease.
A number of scientists however have questioned
these views. It has been
pointed out, for example, that even though tobacco
consumption in Austria,
Belgium and Finland is lower than in the USA,
Canada and Australia, lung
cancer rates are higher. if smoking were a direct
cause of lung cancer,
it would seem that higher disease rates in USA,
Canada and Australia could
be expected. Although the mechanism by which
cancer is triggered is still
not understood fully, a current hypothesis of many
scientists is that it is
caused by a number of contributory elements and
not just a single one. In
the view of a Canadian scientist, Theodor
Sterling, writing in the
International Journal of Health Services in 1978,
exposure to chemicals and
other factors at work may be possible causes.
other scientists suggest
that environmental pollution and personality are
also possible factors in
the causation of lung cancer.
while cigarette smoking has be,en associated with
heart disease, in some
studies scientists have also identified a number
of other "risk factors"
including life style, diet and blood pressure. In
fact, a large international
study conducted during the 1960's and 1970's found
that heart disease rates
could not be explained by smoking habits.
This evidence has been cited here to show that
although there is a statistical
association between smoking and certain kinds of
ill health, it has not
been proven that these illnesses are actually
caused by smoking. Any such
assertion on causation therefore must be seen as
an opinion and not a
statement of proven fact.
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:n the field of smoking and health B.A.T is
attentive to the views, and
.ipinions of many scientific and Goverment
authorities regarding the
statistical association between smoking and
certain diseases. The company
'-as co-operated with such authorities in
supporting research into a wide
range of related subjects, and it will continue to
do so.
At the same time, consumer demand is moving away
from full flavo.red
zigarettes towards cigarettes with lower
deliveries of tar and nicotine.
:n common with all major cigarette companies
worldwide, B.A.T has made
a.vailable a range of products which take into
account all relevant factors,
'i3cluding scientific developments and consumer
trends.
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WHAT IS CIGARETTE SMOKE?
Cigarette smoke contains a large number of
substances in droplet form.
The droplets can be collected on a very fine mesh
filter and weighed in
milligrams, that is in 1000chs of a gramme. By
weight the most important
single constituents are water and nicotine. The
mixture of all the other
constituents present is known as "tar" and at the
last count it incorporated
some three thousand identifiable compounds. The
principal vapour components
are oxygen and nitrogen (from the air), carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide and
water. When the amount (or delivery) of these
smoke components is to.be
measured for example to compare different brands
of cigarettes for Government
tar tables, cigarettes are smoked in a standard
way by machines.
Nicotine has complex effects and appears either to
stimulate or relax the
smoker and may depend on the mood of the
individual. In many smokers it
also causes a small, short-lived increase in heart
rate. In the quantities
absorbed during smoking, nicotine is very rapidly
converted into other
compounds in the body.
Carbon monoxide is a natural by-product, present
in the human body whether
a person smokes or not. It can also by absorbed
from the environment,
where it is produced mainly by industrial and
vehicle emissions as well as
plarts, animals and from combustion processes.
While carbon monoxide Is a
component of cigarette smoke due to the combustion
process, it has not been
proven that it is responsible for any disease in
smokers.
PROGRESSIVE REDUCTION IN SMOKE "DELIVERY"
The present day cigarette looks almost identical
to the cigarette of the
past, but considerable changes have been greatly
reduced in the average
modern cigarette. Indeed, now a range of ultra-low
delivery cigarettes is
bei=& introduced. The extent to which deliveries
have changed over the
past t~o decades is illustrated by the following
table:
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0
0
CL
0
0
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0
0
0
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0
0
0
F
3
Cr
75,
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0
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Cr
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Delivery Levels per Cigarette (mg)
SMOKE COMPONENT 'Typical' 'Average' Examples of
ultra-low
before 1969 In 1980 delivery products
available In 1980
Virginia style cigarettes. e.g. U.K., Canada
Tar
Nicotine
Carbon monoxide
33 15 1
2 1.2 0.1
20 15 1.5
U.S. blend style cigarettes
Tar
Nicotine
Carbon monoxide
43 15 1
3 1.1 0.2
23 17 2
LOWER DELIVERY PRODUCTS
The cigarette delivery levels have fallen
considerably over the past 20 years, and the
average cigarette Is now
very different from that on sale on 1960. In
addition, there are products currently available
which have 30
times less tar than the typical 1960 cigarette.
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This change I-= smoke deliveries has come about in
two significant stages.
First, the imtroduction of filters in the early
1960s led to the development
of a "milde:-" range of cigarette brands. The
second major change came in
the 1970s more porous cigarette paper and the
ventilation of filter
tippings to allow the entry of air to dilute the
somke that reaches the smoker.
These devel---.ments, together with changes in the
selection of tobaccos,
have tended .--o overlap in time. The overall
result has been a dramatic
reduction i= smoke deliveries over the past 20
years.
EFFECTS OF LOWER DELIVERY CICARETTES
Many scient-ffic authorities have suggested that
product changes may be
responsible for the significant reductions
reported in the occurrence ol-
some diseases associated with smoking.
Several aut~:orities argue that since such
statistical associations are
inevitably 1--ased on long term observations the
reductions currently
observed, ---- indeed related to cigarette
smoking, must be largely associated
with the pcst - 1960 move to filter cigarettes.
Some scientists speculate
that future epidemiological studies will show
further reductions in the
incidence cf diseases associated with smoking as a
result of the much more
recent move towards very low delivery cigarettes.
THE SMOKING HABIT
The main -.eason why people smoke is,. of course,
that they gain enjoyment
from the taste and flavour of tobacco. In
addition, smoking has certain
other positive aspects for the smoker.
Research has shown that smoking enables smokers to
adjust their altertness
to a level --hich is appropriate to their
circumstances. Thus, smoking aay
be helpful to someone who is performing monotonous
tasks over long time periods.
Smokers also report that they are better able to
cope with stress and (-,4
improve c==centration during work periods when
they can smoke. CD
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Smoking is not an addiction, but is better
described as a habit. Cigarette
smoking is similar to the common habits of coffee
or tea drinking. In this
way tobacco is radically different from narcotic
drugs that are characterised
by ever increasing dosages and very serious
withdrawal symptoms.
PASSIVE SMOKING
Passive smoking is a term popularised by
anti-s.okers to describe the intake
of tobacco smoke by non-smokers.from the air
around them.
It has been claimed that passive smoking is
anti-social and constitutes a
health hazard to the non-smoker. Much has been
made of this argument in
the smoking controversy and the "rights of the
non-smoker" have been
advocated on trains, buses, aeroplanes and in
other pu blic places.
While several scientific papers claim that there
is a link between passive
smoking and some diseases, such as respiratory
disorders, there is no
convincing proof that smoking causes disease in
non7-smokers. Nor has it
been proven that anyone is allergic to tobacco
smoke although such claims
are sometimes heard.
In "Smoking and Health" the 1979 Report of the
Surgeon General of the USA,
it is concluded that "healthy non-smokers exposed
to cigarette smoke have
little or no physiological response to the smoke
and what response does
occur may be due to psychological factors".
Smoking may cause annoyance to some non-smokers,
but common courtesy, a
respect for the views of others, along with
adequate ventilation, should be
sufficient to resolve any problems between
non-smokers and smokers.
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SMOKING BY PREGNANT WOMEN
One of the most emotional allegations against
smoking is that it can affect
the unborn child.
Once more, the allegations are based on reported
statistical associations,
such as those between smoking by the mother and
reduced birth weight, or
between smoking and impaired development of the
child. However, these
studies often fail to take into account factors
like personality, diet,
occupation and inherited characteristics that can
affect the outcome of
pregnancy. The effects of smoking during pregnancy
remain far from clear.
Just as mothers-to-be are often advised to reduce
their consumption of
various products such as alcohol and
non-prescribed medicines during
pregnancy, many doctors also advise them to modify
their smoking habits.
SMOKING ACND THE INDIVIDUAL
The decision to smoke or not should be left to
informed individual adult
choice, for adults are in a position to weigh any
consideration of risk
against the positive effects they perceive from
smoking.
Smoking and Children
Millions of adults smoke. It is quite
understandable, therefore, that
children become aware of smoking from an early age
and in some cases want
to copy adult behaviour. Consequently, some argue
that smokers should give
up the custom in order to prevent children
starting
As with other customs and activities which might
involve risk, smoking
should be a choice for adults. Children therefore
should not be encouraged
to smoke.
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For this reason, the tobacco industry has formally
adopted a policy of
neither promoting its products to children nor of
making cigarettes attractive
to them.
Advertising
Several research studies have sought to establish
why people start to smoke
but advertising has not been identified as the
primary motivation. One
major U.K. study, the Metra Report, concluded
recently that advertising
does not affect the total amount of cigarettes
sold, and is.influential
only in encouraging smokers to change brands.
The U.K. tobacco industry
The smoking controversy is unresolved and the
tobacco industry does meet a
legitimate consumer demand by the supply, of legal
products which are enjoyed
by millions of people.
In the U.K. alone, the tobacco industry employs
more than 40,000 people
directly and some 250,000 people derive some or
all of their living from
involvement in the sales and distribution of
tobacco.
It contributes more than E3 billion (three
thousand million) to the gover=ent
each year in taxation.
It contributes nearly E300 million each year to
the U.K.'s export earnings.
It has a record of responsibility in the smoking
and health debate and has
demonstrated its readiness to co-operate with
government. Millions of
pounds are spent by the industry each year funding
research in the areas of
smoking and health and new product development.
overseas, and for many years, B.A.T has helped to
raise the living standards
in many developing countries.
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The tobacco industry, therefore, plays a
responsible and important role in
society that will compare favourably with any
other industry.
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The future of tobacco
For the foreseeable future, smoking will continue
to be enjoyed by millions
and this industry is as secure as any other.
Significant growth for the
mature markets such as that in the U.K. is not
likely and one of the reasons
why tobacco companies like B.A.T have invested in
other businesses is
because of that limitation of growth. That is not
to say that we are
getting out of tobacco, indeed tobacco generates
the financial strength
that our presence will remain substantial, but
there are other areas where
growth potential is greater.
BAT IN THE THIRD WORLD
No. grown in about 120 countries tobacco is an
agricultural commodity of
great importance in many rapidly developing parts
of the world.
In the early 1960s, the developing countries
accounted for 52 per cent of
.orld tobacco output. In 1977, this proportion had
risen to 60 per cent
and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
has pointed out recently
that net exports from these nations has risen by
nearly 4 per cent annually
over the past decade. Earnings from the export of
tobacco from the Third
World now exceeds US $1200 million annually and
indicates the importance of
the crop to many developing nations. For example,
income from tobacco
accounts for more than 50 per cent of all earnings
from all agricultural
exports in Malawi and Zambia; more than 20 per
cent in Tur*key, about 10 per
cent in India and the Republic of Kor.a, and 10
per cent in Paraguay.
Tobacco cultivation provides a livelihood for an
immense number of growers
and for innumerable family members and other
workers.
In addition to the foreign exchange earnings
provided for developing
countries by tobacco exports, the taxes levied on
tobacco also represent an
important source of Government revenue.
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For all these reasons, tobacco is widely supported
or controlled by
Governments in both the industrialised and the
developing nations.
B.A.T is the largest of the international tobacco
companies and many of our
links with the Third World were forged in the
early years of this century.
Since then we have continued to contribute
significantly to the raising of
living standards in many developing countries. For
these territories we
often represent one of the largest parts of the
commercial sector. As an
employer, a source of trained manpower and as an
often masive contributor
to national exchequers, we have played a most
positive and important role
in national development over the years.
Additionally, B.A.T has done much to help farmers
in developing countries
increase production of food crops as well as
tobacco through the application
of new agricultural techniques and improved land
cultivation. In tobacco
areas increased yields of food crops have been
recorded since the early
1960s. Maize production for example in tobacco
districts has risen
considerably in Guatemala, Chile and Kenya. In
Bangladesh, rice and jute
production has risen in tobacco growing regions
and in Mysore, India there
has been a considerable increase in yields of
millet. In Nigeria, B.A.T
advice on crop rotation and the use of residual
fertiliser has enabled
tobacco farmers to grow up to five times as much
cassava as they did
previously on the same land area. This achievement
is of considerable
value in a country where food production is a
national priority.
Considerations of smoking and health are of as
great a concern to us in the
emergent nations as they are In the industrialised
countries. A major task
on which the company embarked some time ago was
the introduction of worldwide
smoking and health policies.
Markets in the industrialised nations and those in
the developing world are
very different and customer taste varies greatly.
In certain parts of the
world, a typical smoker has traditionally
preferred a stronger taste than
is customary in Europe or the U.S.A. It is B.A.T's
policy, however that
there should be a rationalisation of tar delivery
in the light of changing
consumer demands. This means that an international
brand sold in, say, CN
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Africa will not vary greatly in tar delivery from
that available to the
smoker in Europe. Equally, B.A.T's policies on
advertising and promotion
aim to ensure that campaigns which appeal to youth
are avoided, that
advertising does not make exaggerated claims and
that promotional activity
remains acceptable to local communities.
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IN CONCLUSION
There have been dramatic changes in the
development of cigarettes over the
past 20 years: the new generation of low tar
products is vastly different
from the high tar cigarettes of the 1960s. Some
scientific authorities
believe these product changes to be responsible
for the reported reductions
in the occurrence of several diseases which have
been associated with
smoking. Indications are that more smokers will
choose lower tar brands in
the future. B.A.T will persue the low delivery
development programme so that
our policies can reflect both scientific
developments and consumer taste.
The company continues to believe these policies to
be the foundation for
further commercial success.
At the same time we will press ahead with our work
overseas, particularly
in the rapidly developing parts of the world. We
have many millions of
customers there and our presence is a resource of
considerable value to
Governments. Food production and afforestation are
only two examples of
the way in which B.A.T people are helping to
overcome difficult problems
which face certain emergent nations.
B.A.T has a valuable role in the world and we are
in good shape to play it
effectively and profitably.
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