R'~515_FOR RCSHARCH IN SMOKING
S-kino has becont- an im'portant so~cial qucstion.
is enjoyed by large numbers of people and in
varying
d-7:-ees is of importance to the.. But smoking
is.associated
,.i-- a number of diseases and evidence from
epidemblogical
suggests that smoking may well be causall3r
related to
1,_-~g cancer .This is particularly true if a
probabilistic
concep-, of causality is accepted. It is true that
the
the hypothesis that
ep,se=~logical evidence might support
there ~Lre substantial minorities of people
pre-disposed to
cancer and other diseases. If such people could be
clearly
identified, it might be possible and would surely
be desirable
to persuade most of them not to smoke or to reduce
their
smc'-~ng or to modify the way in which they smoke.
However,
even if it were acceptable as social policy,
attempts by
enforcement or persuasion to end the smok-ing
habit for all
do not appear to provide a practical answer to the
social
question. Insofar as they are successful such
attempts,
if pushed too far, may well create new social
dangers.
Therefore, so far as can be foreseen smoking will
remain
a., important social habit bringing to large
numbers of
people enjoyment and satisfaction in varying
degrees. Hence,
while recognising social responsibilities, those
in the
ind--,stzy recognise also their duty to do their
best for
consumers consistent with the duties and
responsibilities
all Co.3panies have to the State, the employees,
the shareholders
ard others.
These views are reflected in our research
objectives
which, in addiiion to makifig our products as
pleasing, satisfying
and competitive as we can, include the
investigation not only of
all evidence that smoking may be harmful but also
all such
allecations and all serious suggestions for the
improvement of
our products in these respects. Significant
developments in
this latter field are not being achieved quickly
or easily.
There are several large areas where we are still
quite ignorant
and where progress is slow.' For example, we have
insufficient.-
kno-ledge of smoking behaviour either with
reference to the
ay individual cigarettes are smoked by different
people or
to the way changes in cigarettes affect the
overall smoking
patterns of people- Further, although
-conscientious empirical
de~elap.ent over many years has led to products
which appear
to 7-atch consumer needs, we have only a little
knowledge of the
factors which lead smokers to prefer different
cigarettes or
indeed to smoke at all.
We know that the pharmacological effects of
nicotine
and/or other agents are likely to be very
important for some
smokers at some times but we are also aware that
psychological
fac-tors are also important. These psychological
factors.
are related to the package presentation, colour,
aroma, etc.
as ell as to the act of smoking itself. It is a
question
of judc-:ient at present whether to regard these
effects and
fac-:ors as separable and whether to regard one or
another
as =ore important. If nicotine is the main factor,
we may
regard it as important to measure other smoke
constituents
in relation to the amount of nicotine made
available to the
Contd.
N.;
BATCo document for Province of British Columbia 4
November 1999


Smoker 1:~z to providdo the sno'1-2r -.,jith a
choic,~ of -.ico:-ile
conten:3. But other fac-o:s much as
ap?~-aranc_-,
,ctacco q-_:ality, firmness of the cinaret-tes, of
2
totacco a: more- important SO.-le smokers. None of
those
~~actors-~Ione can bo considered as an objective
measure of
value o~ s-bieczive smoking and )re-smokinq
experience.
Thus onlv --he consumer can evaluate smoking
products in
terms of ::-.e money he pays and in the end it is
competitive
present&:_'on of choice that ensures that the
smoker gets
value -for his money.
Our research and development aims can thus
broadly I~e resolved into producing at minimum
cost dIfferent
smoking and pre-smoking experiences aimed to match
the needs
of different smokers and associated with minimum
undesirable
side-effects.
BATCo document for Province of British Columbia 4
November 1999