Addiction Term Debated in
U.S. Tobacco Case
11/4/2004
As U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler continues to hear testimony in the U.S. government's $280-billion racketeering case against the tobacco industry, arguments are centering on the term "addiction," Reuters reported Nov. 2.
Tobacco-industry lawyers argue that the government's use of the word "addiction" to describe cigarette smoking is vague and politically motivated. The word was first used in a U.S. Surgeon General's report in 1988.
"Whether you call it an addiction, a habit, a dependency or something else, it does not mean people cannot quit, does it?" Philip Morris lawyer Ted Wells asked Neal Benowitz, one of the scientists who oversaw the Surgeon General's report.
Benowitz responded that smokers who try to quit are almost as likely to fail as individuals who try to quit their heroin or cocaine addiction.
Wells produced internal government memos and news articles to back industry claims that Benowitz and other scientists discussed terming smoking as an addiction to make it easier for the government to force regulations on tobacco companies and help plaintiffs in their lawsuits against tobacco makers.
Benowitz denied being improperly biased against the industry, although he asked, "How can you be a physician or public-health official and be impartial about tobacco?" Benowitz said.
Filed in 1999, the government's lawsuit claims that cigarette makers took part in a 50-year industry conspiracy that involved misleading consumers about the dangers of smoking.
Reported in: JoinTogether.org (http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0%2C1854%2C575088%2C00.html)
URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/180/addiction_word.htm
Owner: Robert O. Keel: rok@umsl.edu
Last Updated:
Friday, November 5, 2004 11:59 AM