545 



the subcommittee contended that nicotine is an addictive drug, 

 and, therefore, smokers are drug addicts, I strenuously object to 

 that premise. I strenuously object to that conclusion. 



Cigarettes contain nicotine because it occurs naturally in tobacco. 

 Nicotine contributes to the taste of cigarettes and the pleasures of 

 smoking. The presence of nicotine, however, does not make ciga- 

 rettes a drug or smoking an addiction. 



Coffee, Mr. Chairman, contains caffeine, and few people seem to 

 enjoy coffee that does not. Does that make coffee a drug? Are coffee 

 drinkers drug addicts? I think not. 



People can and do quit smoking. According to the 1988 Surgeon 

 General's Report, there are more than 40 million former smokers 

 in the United States, and 90 percent of those who quit did so on 

 their own, without any outside help. Smoking is not intoxicating, 

 no one gets drunk from cigarettes, and no one has said that smok- 

 ers do not function normally. Smoking does not impair judgment. 

 In short, no one is likely to be arrested for driving under the influ- 

 ence of cigarettes. 



Our consumers smoke for many reasons. Smokers are not drug 

 users or drug addicts, and we do not appreciate or accept being 

 characterized as such because, yes, Mr. Chairman, I am one of the 

 50 million smokers in this country. 



Point five. Philip Morris research does not establish that smok- 

 ing is addictive. At the March 25th hearing. Commissioner Kessler 

 made the statement, supported by Dr. Heningfield, that in 1983 a 

 company, later identified as Philip Morris, suppressed research by 

 one of its own scientists who, allegedly, concluded that nicotine was 

 an addictive substance. 



That is false. In fact, that scientist published two full papers and 

 five abstracts related to the work in question, including one pub- 

 lished in 1982, a year prior to the creation of the manuscript in 

 question. The manuscript subsequently provided to the committee 

 by Commissioner Kessler, presented some evidence that rats will 

 self-administer nicotine, and that nicotine, therefore, is a weak re- 

 inforcing agent. 



The researcher later concluded that nicotine is a reinforcer in the 

 class of non-addictive chemical compounds such as saccharin and 

 water. In addition, and Commissioner Kessler failed to note this, 

 the manuscript itself states, and I quote, "Termination of prolonged 

 access to nicotine under conditions in which it functions as a posi- 

 tive reinforcer does not result in physiological dependence." 



Thus the manuscript did not conclude that nicotine is addictive. 

 And both Dr. Kessler and Dr. Heningfield know that. More impor- 

 tantly, the committee should know that by the time the Philip Mor- 

 ris researcher was ready to publish his study in 1983, the positive 

 reinforcing nature of nicotine had already been reported in other 

 published literature. 



Indeed, the 1988 Surgeon General's Report, to which Dr. 

 Heningfield was a contributor, stated that such nicotine reinforce- 

 ment was shown conclusively, as early as 1981, based on Govern- 

 ment-supported research. Last month Dr. Heningfield testified be- 

 fore this committee that because the manuscript was unpublished, 

 he could not cite it in his literature reviews. In fact. Dr. 



