Senate Panel To Unveil Tobacco Memos From 1970s

Source from:  cbsnews.com By Martin Kady II Nov 12, 2007 11/14/2007

(The Politico) The scene may seem like a flashback to the early 1990s _ the last time Democrats controlled Congress. A stern committee chairman unveils memos that show _ gasp! _ that the tobacco industry knew a long, long time ago that cigarettes were bad. On Tuesday, a Senate committee plans to release documents that reveal the tobacco industry knew as early as 1975 that "light" cigarettes tend to pass as much if not more tar into smokers' lungs as regular smokes, and government tests on these cigarettes were inaccurate. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who will chair a Senate Commerce panel hearing, plans to not only criticize the tobacco industry for its decades long knowledge that light cigarette smokers inhale just as much tar and nicotine _ he will show that the Federal Trade Commission used faulty methods in measuring delivery of toxins. Enditem