Robert B. Griffith

Robert B. Griffith was Director of Research and Development at Brown & Williamson tobacco company circa 1968 and has served as a witness for the Defense in cases against the tobacco industry.

= Biography =

Dr. Griffith was formerly employed in Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation's Research & Development Department as Director from 1960-67 and was deceased as of 1994. (G. Bell LT Waxman 5/16/94). He was a British American Tobacco scientist, circa 1965.(Source 3/24/94)

In a strictly confidential report to tobacco executives, Dr. Griffith, the chief of research for Brown & Williamson, discussed research being done at the Tobacco Research Council laboratory in Harrogate, which showed the hazards of cigarettes as well as ways to make less hazardous cigarettes. Griffith warned the executives that the sponsoring tobacco companies may be losing control of the operation of this facility (Harrogate). Some B&W employees expressed deep concern over the possible impact of the reports to come from Harrogate. Their approach seemed to be to find ways of obtaining maximum nicotine for minimum tar, which could prompt government regulation in England and significantly affect the American tobacco industry. Soon afterward, research on the hazards of cigarettes and the alternatives was halted at the Harrogate laboratory.(New York Times 5/13/94)

Dr. Griffith was the Research Director for Brown & Williamson in 1968. He attended a meeting of the Research Directors of Brown & Williamson, Philip Morris, & L&M at L&M Operations Center in Durham, North Carolina on May 24, 1968. The objective of the meeting was to determine the variation and the amounts of FTC tar exposure which various groups of the population encounter with various cigarettes.(UCSF000001-2)(Source: Brown & Williamson's Initial Disclosure, State of Texas vs. ATC, et al., 6/5/96)

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