Cancer Society Wants Stricter Tobacco Deal

It wants higher cigarette tax,
tougher regulation of nicotine

Washington
'DEAL BREAKERS'

The two provisions of the proposed settlement that most rankle the
American Cancer Society

€ Limits on the FDA's ability to regulate the tobacco industry.

€ Terms for reducing teenage smoking, which the society finds too lax.

The American Cancer Society said yesterday that it will not back the
proposed tobacco settlement unless it is significantly revised, a stance
that is likely to increase pressure on both advocates of the deal and
the Clinton administration to toughen it.

At a press conference in Washington, top officials of the cancer society
said they believe that the S368.5 billion proposal is a major step
toward reducing smokingrelated deaths.

They also said the proposal reached last month between tobacco companies
and state attorneys general should be toughened in seven areas,
including raising cigarette excise taxes sharply, strengthening federal
regulation of cigarettes and nicotine, and increasing penalties for
cigarette companies if smoking by young people did not decline.

"The American Cancer Society supports the right settlement‹but this is
not that settlement," said George Dessart, the orgaization's chairman.

In fact, Dr. Myles Cunningham, the group's president dent said that two
are "deal breakers." Cunningham said provisions restricting the Food and
Drug Administration's ability to regulate the industry are unacceptable
and that the terms designed to reduce teen smoking are too lax and
provide "no economic incentive to ensure the industry will meet the
target goals."

Also yesterday, officials of the American Lung Association, which has
been a leading critic of the proposal, said the organization believes
that tobacco advertising restrictions called for under the plan were
inadequate.

Under the settlement proposal, major producers of cigarettes and
smokeless tobacco products agreed, among other things, to pay tens of
billions of dollars to settle lawsuits filed by states and smokers,
restrict advertising of tobacco products and pay fines if smok ing by
young people did not decline.

In return, the proposal, which must be approved by Congress, would
protect the companies against certain types of lawsuits and bar the
awarding of punitive damages.

In other developments yesterday:

€ The FBI put out a notice on the Internet asking current or past
employees of tobacco companies to become whistleblowers in its criminal
investigation of the industry.

The FBI sometimes posts such appeals for new witnesses when
investigators are stalled. But sources familiar with the Justice
Department's probe said that the investigation has gained steam in
recent months despite the proposed settlement of civil litigation.

€ In votes that underscored the enduring power of cigarette makers on
Capitol Hill, the House sent the industry an encouraging signal by
rejecting attempts to abolish federal subsidies for tobacco crop
insurance and to add $10 million to the $24 million already allocated
for a national campaign to reduce youth smoking.

The Senate narrowly defeated the same initiatives the night before.