578 



The "Addiction" Hypothesis 



A major premise of the charges against the cigarette industry today is the claim that 

 cigarettes are "addictive". Dr. Kessler and our other critics rely on selective and incomplete 

 evidence to support this claim. They ignore significant and meaningful differences between 

 cigarettes and truly "addictive" drugs. When long-established criteria for labeling a 

 substance or activity as "addictive" do not permit our critics to fit cigarette smoking nicely 

 within the existing criteria, these critics resort to a simple tactic to further their agenda ~ 

 they attempt to lower the standards and change the definition of "addiction" and its alleged 

 components. 



In 1964, the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General recognized that cigarette 

 smoking did not meet well-established criteria for "addiction."'* In 1988, the Surgeon 

 General altered the definition to fit the existing data on smoking. In essence, the Surgeon 



'* The 1964 Advisory Committee Report to the Surgeon General defined "addiction" 

 as follows: 



"a state of periodic or chronic intoxication produced by the 

 repeated consumption of drug (natural or synthetic) whose 

 characteristics include: 



"(1) An overpowering desire or need (compulsion) to 

 continue taking the drug and to obtain it by any means; 



"(2) A tendency to increase the dose; 



"(3) A psychic (psychological) and generally a physical 

 dependence on the effects of the drug; 



"(4) Detrimental effect on the individual and on society" 



The Report concluded that tobacco smoking was properly classified as a 

 habituation. 1964 Surgeon General's Report, 351, 354. 



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