| Date:
Mon, May 14, 2001 5:28 PM
Subject: Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Reports Dear Sir or Madam: I am a health care researcher in the field of lung cancer and smoking cessation as well as a long-time volunteer and current chair of the local American Cancer Society unit. It has come to my attention that you are asking questions as to the benefits of the FTC reports on how much the cigarette companies and smokeless tobacco companies spend each year to market and promote their deadly products. The quick answer is yes, continue to issue these reports. They are very useful. These reports are critically important for public health efforts to monitor the tobacco companies' marketing activities, stop tobacco marketing to kids, and make the case for why government investments in tobacco control (including public education and counter-marketing efforts) are needed to reduce the toll of tobacco in the United States. These reports would be even more useful if you could break the data down by state, brand, and type of expenditure. Thanks! Sandra Zelman Lewis, PhD |