588 



during boring or intensive tasks, or a nice complement to a meal. All of these highly 

 subjective reasons for smoking have found support in scientific publications. 



Dr. Kessler pejoratively refers to "top tobacco industry officials" when referencing 

 internationally respected Reynolds Tobacco scientists who have published widely in peer- 

 reviewed scientific journals because they do not believe that tobacco is addictive. He then 

 goes on to mischaracterize their data. In the journal article referenced by Dr. Kessler, Drs. 

 Robinson and Pritchard summed up the evidence concerning addiction and tobacco use: 



We believe that Warburton (1990) has developed a balanced, 

 functional theory of nicotine use that recognizes the beneficial 

 psychological effects of nicotine. This "resource" or 

 "psychological tool" hypothesis holds that people smoke 

 cigarettes primarily for purposes of enjoyment, performance 

 enhancement and/or anxiety reduction. This theory also passes 

 the common sense test of why people smoke. They smoke, not 

 because they are addicted to nicotine, but because they achieve 

 some benefits from smoking, enjoy these benefits which are 

 totally compatible with everyday tasks and stresses, and choose 

 to continue to enjoy these benefits .... 



We believe the distinctions are clear and caimot be stated more 

 clearly than what was said in the 1964 SGR [Surgeon General's 

 Report]: "the practice [smoking] should be labeled habituation 

 to distinguish it clearly from addiction , since the biological 

 effects of tob.acco, like coffee and other caffeine-containing 

 beverages, ... are not comparable to those produced by 

 morphine, alcohol, barbiturates, and many other potent 

 addicting drugs" (p. 350, emphasis in original). If we lose this 

 common-sense perspective of the role of nicotine in tobacco 

 use, those of us who enjoy the "lift" we receive from that first 

 cup of coffee in the morning or that cola drink in the late 

 afternoon may find that a few years from now a small group of 

 researchers have equated our coffee/cola-drinking behavior to 

 that of a hard-core crack or heroin addict.^ 



^ Robinson and Pritchard, supra, at 405-6. 



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