Beacon Hill Institute Exposed

A study of nicotine addiction is funded by a tobacco company.

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Smoking, and ire, at UCLA
A study of nicotine addiction is funded by a tobacco company.
Richard C. Paddock, L.A. Times Staff Writer

Here’s a recipe for academic controversy:

First, find dozens of hard-core teenage smokers as young as 14 and study their brains with high-tech scans. Second, feed vervet monkeys liquid nicotine and then kill at least six of them to examine their brains. Third, accept $6 million from tobacco giant Philip Morris to pay for it all. Fourth, cloak the project in unusual secrecy.

At UCLA, a team of researchers is following this formula to produce what it hopes will be a groundbreaking study of addiction. So far, the scientists have proved that the issues of animal testing and tobacco-funded research are among the most contentious on university campuses.

UCLA professor Edythe London, the lead scientist on the three-year study, said it could discover new ways to help people quit smoking and lead to innovative treatments for other addictions.

“We are doing this because we really want to save lives,” she said. “I am really proud of what we are doing. We have a track record for contributing to science, and we would like to bring that to bear on the problem of nicotine addiction.”

But even before she had a chance to select her first teenager for study, London paid a price for her research. In October, activists opposed to animal testing flooded her Westside home with her garden hose, causing more than $20,000 in damage. They struck again this week, leaving an incendiary device at night that charred her front door. A gardener discovered the damage Tuesday.

The activists, who have also targeted other UCLA researchers, accused London of using “sadistic procedures” and “torturing nonhuman animals to death” in earlier studies. No one has been arrested in the attacks.

At the same time, Philip Morris’ role in the study has drawn sharp criticism from anti-tobacco activists. They doubt that the company wants to help people stop smoking and question whether the study of teenage and monkey brains could help Philip Morris design a more addictive cigarette.

“It’s stunning in this day and age that a university would do secret research for the tobacco industry on the brains of children,” said Matt Meyers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C. “It raises fundamental questions about the integrity, honesty and openness of research anywhere at the University of California.”

London said that Philip Morris would not have any oversight or other involvement in the study. The suggestion that the company might use her findings to make cigarettes more addictive is “twisted,” she said.

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Smoking Attributable Deaths

http://www.vahealth.org/cdpc/TUCP/documents/2008/pdf/Data%20and%20Statistics/Smoking-Attributable%20Deaths%20in%20Virginia_2008.pdf

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Smoking Attributable Deaths
By the Virginia Tobacco Use Control Project (TUCP), Virginia Department of Health.

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Each year, smoking causes approximately 400,000 deaths in the United States plus 38,000 deaths from exposure to secondhand smoke.1 This is one-in-five deaths in the U.S. Smoking causes more deaths each year than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. According to the CDC and the National Cancer Institute, cigarette smoking increases your risk for developing and dying from several diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and lung diseases. For every one person who dies from smoking, there are 20 people who have smoking-caused disease and disability. Approximately 8.6 million people suffer from a smoking-related chronic disease in the United States.
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Altria’s Companies & Brands

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Altria Group’s operating companies include Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, John Middleton and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. Our tobacco companies brand portfolios consist of successful and well-known brand names such as Marlboro, Copenhagen, Skoal and Black & Mild.

The growth of Altria Group’s tobacco companies’ brands is driven by constant innovation.

THE BRANDS:

Philip Morris USA – Philip Morris USA is the largest tobacco company in the U.S. and has half of the U.S. cigarette market’s retail share.

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company – U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company manufactures and markets smokeless tobacco products.

John Middleton – John Middleton is a leading manufacturer of machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco.

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates – Ste. Michelle Wine Estates ranks among the top 10 producers of premium wines in the United States.

SABMiller – Altria Group also has a 28.5% economic interest in SABMiller, the world’s second-largest brewer.

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