Volume 1
The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee
- Date:
- 2000
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![dependence ... ICD-10 categorises the use of both caffeine and tobacco, amongst other substances, as capable of leading to unspecified mental and behavioural disorders ... as such smoking may or may not be assessed as supporting a finding of nicotine dependence...” “We agree that nicotine could be regarded as addictive by reference to DSM-IV and ICD 10 but this does not mean that smokers are unable to stop smoking if they choose to do so” RJ Reynolds “Yes- nicotine can be seen as ‘addictive’ if what is meant by this is that it is capable of creating some of the dependence and withdrawal symptoms that are described in DSM IV and ICD 10” Philip Morris “We believe that it is important that smokers and non-smokers ... hear a single consistent message on the issue of smoking and addiction and we will not engage in a debate over the message provided by the public health authorities on this issue | ... we will not debate the application of the criteria ... to smoking. As we stated in our submission ...cigarette smoking is addictive as that term is most commonly used today.”””! 38. The responses to our questions accurately reflected the positions taken during the evidence session. Gallaher, Philip Morris, BAT and R J Reynolds all either directly acknowledged that smoking caused serious diseases, or acknowledged that there was a consensus amongst public health bodies that this was the case.” In stark contrast, Mr Gareth Davis of Imperial refused to accept directly any of the evidence, nor did he appear to think it was his role to evaluate this evidence. He told us: “I do not think that we can say that it [smoking] is safe or unsafe ... we do not know whether it is safe or unsafe”.” He added that “we do not agree that smoking has been shown to be a cause [of certain diseases]”.’* We discuss below our response to Imperial’s position. 39. In its memorandum Imperial told us that, together with the Tobacco Manufacturers Study Committee / Tobacco Research Council, it “consulted and took advice from leading scientists on the direction of research carried out and the interpretation of the results of the research”.” A list of distinguished scientists was supplied: Sir Charles Dodds, President of the RCP Committee of Air Pollution, Sir Ronald Fisher, Professor of Genetics at Cambridge University, Sir John Richardson, President of the Royal Society of Medicine, Lord Todd, Professor of Organic Chemistry at Cambridge University, Professors Sir Alexander Haddow, R D Passey and E Boyland of the Chester Beatty Institute of Cancer Research at the Royal Cancer Hospital London, Professors Sir Ernest Kennaway and J W S Blacklock of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Dr C M Fletcher, co-author of the 1962 RCP report on Smoking and Health, and Dr J W Cook of the MRC Carcinogenic Substances Research Unit, University of Exeter. 1! Information in the tables is sourced from Ev. , pp.340-41, 356-57, 358, 359, 360. 7 See QQ388-435 and QQ462-69 passim. 73 QQ397-98. ™ Q418.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32221083_0001_0029.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
