REPORT LINKS SMOKING AND THE MENTALLY ILL

CHICAGO, -- A report from the Harvard Medical School released today
estimated that people with diagnosable mental illness accounted for nearly
45 percent of the total cigarette market in the United States.

The study, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical
Association, said that could be because the mentally ill are more
vulnerable to tobacco advertising or nicotine addiction.

"We found that persons with mental illness are about twice as likely to
smoke as other persons, a finding consistent with previous studies," the
Harvard report said.

The findings were based on data from 4,411 people ages 15 to 54 questioned
in a Congressionally mandated study of the prevalence of psychiatric
disorders in the United States, conducted in 1991 and 1992. The report said
it was the most recent national data source available on mental illness and
smoking.