585 



Cigarette smoking is more like drinking coffee and eating chocolate than like using 

 cocaine, heroin, or any truly addicting hard drug. Cigarettes, however, are unpopular, which 

 is why our critics strain so mightily to demonstrate that smoking is "addictive". The plain 

 truth is that, under any objective scientific (or common sense) measure, cigarette smoking 

 should not be considered "addictive". 



Dr. Kessler and others support their assertions by repeating a deluge of facts that, 

 in their judgment, prove their conclusions. Let us examine just a few of these "facts": 



• First, Dr. Kessler quotes a 1993 Gallup Survey reporting that 

 75% of smokers say they are addicted. What Dr. Kessler does 

 not report is that the same survey found that 69% of the same 

 smokers said they "could quit if I wanted to." Moreover, this 

 survey was conducted after the well-publicized 1988 Surgeon 

 General's Report, which equated cigarette smoking with cocaine 

 and heroin addiction. Does Dr. Kessler not believe that such 

 publicity could affect responses to this survey? 



• Dr. Kessler states that "By some estimates, as many as 74 to 90 

 percent are addicted." He relies on a paper by Hughes, si li- 

 This paper also included the comment, "In addition, the fact 

 that this definition [referring to DSM-Hl-R] classified 90% of 

 the tobacco users in this study as dependent suggests that it is 

 over inclusive and thus may lack diagnostic discriminability". 



• Dr. Kessler makes repeated references to how certain 

 percentages of people "may" or "might" possibly behave in 

 certain circumstances. In one example, he discusses patients 

 who continue to smoke after surgery or a coronary event. Some 

 continue to smoke; most quit. Some also follow their doctor's 

 advice and eat less fat, exercise regularly and lose weight. 

 Some don't. The fact that human behaviors run a wide gamut 

 when faced with similar situations tells us something about 

 human behavior and little about smoking or nicotine. 



• Dr. Kesslefs "experts" tell him that most smokers reach for 

 their first cigarette within 30 minutes of waking. He concludes 

 that this fact is "a meaningful measure of addiction". By this 

 measure most coffee drinkers should be considered addicts. 



-24- 



