Electromyographic Studies of Muscle Relaxation in Smokers

Electromyographic Studies of Muscle Relaxation in Smokers

This November, 1972 Philip Morris (PM) internal memo, Electromyographic Studies of Muscle Relaxation in Smokers, establishes PM's awareness of the addictiveness of nicotine way back in 1972, 22 years before the April 14, 1994 congressional hearings in which the seven tobacco company CEOs testified that they didn't believe nicotine was addicting. The memo's author, PM scientist Raymond Fagan, states:

"What it sounds like at the moment is that cigarets are addicting and the reaction of the inveterate cigaret smoker is like that of any drug addict."

Also note Fagan's understanding that his company lacked a reputation for "'intellectual honesty and integrity" when it came to scientific research, as he intimates that tobacco industry financing for the study would have to be hidden from the public view if PM intended to "market" the results of this proposed study:

"The market promotion value of this work, assuming it is valid, may be negated by the fact that it was done in an independent institute financed by a cigaret manufacturer or by the tobacco industry. Only if the work were done under the auspices of an institution with a well-established reputation for intellectual honesty and integrity would this be worthwhile."

Title Electromyographic Studies of Muscle Relaxation in Smokers Per. Author Raymond Fagan Date 19721101 Type MEMORANDUM Bates 1001801446/1447 Collection Philip Morris Pages 2 URL: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/wgt08e00

Other SourceWatch Resources

 * Tobacco industry