unifrib oktttrs ocnMir - Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

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cxistence .
In the report by the Surgeon General's Advfsory Cow-
ttec, there is an important questA .on posed which should
be of i.ntoresf: to this Cor.miittee . The report asks : "What
would satisfy the psychological need s of the 70,000,000
Americnns t To rsmokeiw in 1!9H3 i£ they woxo suddenly deprivcd
of tob a cco4"
The Report €foes on to say that '7dedical porspeoti .vc
requires recognition of r :i€!nificar.t bonoPicial O effects of
cmokS .np, primaril.y in the areaa of inental health . These
benefits origina.tr. Sn a psychogenic search for contentment
and are moasurable only i.n terms of individual behavior .
Since no means of quantf .tating these bonefits is apparent,
the Cobuaittce finds no basis for a,judgownt which would
weigh bone ;.its versus hazarde of smokin€: as St may apply
to the general popu]ation,•'
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/hly24f00/pdf
As thit : quotation su ggests, the que sti.on of whethor
to F391OA:R or nO t re{Yiai.nfJ an individual dPGisiAn, And, as
1 hixve said, the cSP;arette industry cmi.st.s to meet the
desir.e:s oY those indi .vi.dualc who choer,e to emokc .
In doing so, the: industry also p rovides a livelihood
for imSllions of Mneric:ans . While thiei Sr> significant,
we arc 01 aw2re thatt eauch consadormtionr, ennnot be al .lo wed
to outweigh questions of public health . However, job~s
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