(9 of 9)
A wiser alternative might be for Government to take over financing of research, possibly by increasing taxes on cigarettes, and intensify its campaign to educate people on the hazards of smoking. Another constructive step would be for Congress to order that the tar and nicotine content must be listed on all packs and in ads. If the dangers of cigarettes are only half as serious as most medical experts believe, the nation should settle for nothing less than a comprehensive federal drive to find causes and cures.
Government regulation of cigarettes will continue to increase. Philip Elman, one of the Federal Trade Commission's five members, argues that the Government has to take unusual actions because cigarettes pose a unique problem. "Cigarettes cannot be compared with such products as automobiles, butter or candy," he says. "Cigarette smoking is, without question, the greatest single public health problem this nation has ever faced." That may be an extreme view. But there is no denying that so long as men smoke—and that will probably be for a very long time—there will be no simple solution.
*No tobacco company has ever lost such a suit; there are not any known out-of-court settlements. Two years ago a New Orleans jury ordered American to pay $250,000 damages in the case of a heavy smoker who had died of lung cancer in 1962, but two weeks ago American won a reversal on appeal.