sample="rhetorical" bates="TIMN0080550" isource="rjr" decade="1970" class="ui" date="19701201" After millions of dollars and over 20 years of research: The question about smoking and health is still a question. For the past two decades, hundreds of scientists have performed thousands of experiments and written millions of words in a dedicated effort to explore the question of smoking and health. Result. So far, in spite of this massive effort, there are eminent scientists who question whether any causal relationship has been proved between cigarette smoking and human disease -- including lung cancer, coronary heart disease, or emphysema. They believe that years more of exhaustive investigation will be required to clear up what is indeed now a muddy picture. What has been learned is this: establishing cause-and-effect relationships, which have been claimed to exist by government agencies and other groups, is much more complex than originally thought. In fact, even those who claim a cause-and-effect relationship has been proved admit that no particular ingredient, as it occurs in cigarette smoke, has been demonstrated as the cause of any particular disease. Who sponsored the research There are those who believe that voluntary health associations have provided the money for most of this research. Others think it was strictly a project of the various U.S. Government departments. It is true that both have been...and continue to be...active in this field. But -- a major portion of this scientific inquiry has been financed by the people who know the most about cigarettes and have a great desire to learn the truth...the tobacco industry. And the industry has committed itself to this task in the most objective and scientific way possible. A $35,000,000 program In the interest of absolute objectivity, the tobacco industry has supported totally independent research efforts with completely non-restrictive funding. In 1954, the industry established what is now known as CTR, the Council for Tobacco Research -- USA, to provide financial support for research by independent scientists into all phases of tobacco use and health. Completely autonomous, CTR's research activity is directed by a board of ten scientists and physicians who retain their affiliations with their respective universities and institutions. This board has full authority and responsibility for policy, development and direction of the research effort. Each researcher receiving a grant has complete freedom to publish the results of his work, whatever the results may be. As of this year, CTR has made grants totaling over 17 million dollars. In 1964, the tobacco industry made a commitment for additional independent research that now amounts to 18 million dollars. This commitment was made to AMA-ERF, the Education and Research Foundation which is a research arm of the American Medical Association. The ERF, like the CTR, makes grants for scientific research with complete freedom and autonomy. What they did As of November 1970, the Council for Tobacco Research alone has awarded 396 separate grants to scientists in 189 medical schools, hospitals, and institutions in this country and five other countries. The Education and Research Foundation has awarded 168 grants to scientists in more than 70 medical and research institutions. The combined commitment by the tobacco industry for those projects presently amounts to over 35 million dollars. In fiscal 1969, for example, the tobacco industry's commitment in this area was more than any government department...and millions more than the research expenditure on smoking and health reported for the same period by all the voluntary health associations combined. What they found The findings of research studies funded in whole or in part by CTR have already resulted in publication of 835 scientific papers in professional literature. Those sponsored by the Education Research Foundation have resulted in the publication of 280 reports. 1115 reports in all. Through this work much valuable data have been produced about lung cancer, heart disease, chronic respiratory ailments and other diseases. However, there's still a lot more to be learned. The findings are not secret All the above reports have been published in medical and scientific journals in the United States and other parts of the world. These documents are available to scientists and doctors interested in pursuing the scientific truths on the smoking and health issue. The work should go forward There are eminent scientists who believe that the questions of smoking and health is and open one and that research in this area must go forward. From the beginning, the tobacco industry has believed that the American people deserve objective, scientific answers. With this same credo in mind, the tobacco industry stands ready today to make new commitments for additional valid scientific research that offers to shed new light on new facets of smoking and health. These facts and statements are presented by The Tobacco Institute in the belief that the many controversial questions concerning smoking and health must ultimately be answered by further scientific research and new knowledge -- and that full, free, and informed public discussion is essential in the public interest. For further information, we invite you to read "The Cigarette Controversy." Write to: The Tobacco Institute 1776 K Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006