Tobacco Settlement Should Include Warnings For Other Nations

WE HOOKED THE WORLD NOW HELP IT

Editorial

The opinion of the Mercury News

ON billboards across Russia, a lone eagle soars above a city skyline. ``The
taste of freedom,'' says the Russian text. It's an ad for Winston cigarettes.

In another tobacco ad, a carefree couple drives along the rim of the Grand
Canyon in a convertible. The text: ``New Horizons in Taste.''

Cigarette smoking may be losing its appeal in America, but overseas it's
still as American as blue jeans and rock 'n' roll. U.S. tobacco companies
are promoting that image in their effort to capture markets in developing
countries where the health threat of smoking isn't taken seriously yet. The
U.S. government has been helping them, forcing countries to accept American
cigarettes under threat of trade sanctions.

The United States still consumes more cigarettes per capita than most
countries because cigarettes here are relatively cheap. But as the number
of U.S. smokers has steadily dwindled, so have cigarette sales. Between
1985 and 1995, consumption here dropped from 594 billion cigarettes to 487
billion. During the same period, U.S. exports ballooned from 59 billion to
240 billion.

The most promising markets are in developing countries such as Russia,
China and Korea, where more than 60 percent of the men and increasing
numbers of women smoke. By comparison, only about 28 percent of American
men and 23 percent of women smoke. No wonder RJR wants a piece of the action.

The increase in worldwide tobacco poses a major health threat. In 1996, 3
million people died from smokingrelated illness, twice the number who died
from AIDS. The World Health Organization estimates that deaths from
tobaccorelated illness will reach 10 million per year worldwide by 2030.
About 70 percent of them will be in thirdworld countries.

The U.S. must take some of the blame for the increase in smoking. For
years, our government has bullied developing countries into accepting
American cigarettes as a matter of free trade. Once in the country, U.S.
firms have used advertising not just to convince current smokers to switch
brands but also to entice new customers to take up the habit.

This year, Congress finally took a step toward ending this disgraceful
practice. In November, it passed a bill that forbids the U.S. from using
tax dollars to promote tobacco exports. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, DTexas,
attached the provision to an appropriations bill and it easily passed both
houses.

The next step is for Congress to think globally in 1998 when it tries to
hammer out a settlement with the tobacco industry. Three bills already have
been written in response to the $368.5 billion deal reached with state
attorneys general this year, but none addresses the issue of exports. It's
imperative that Congress require U.S. tobacco companies to put health risk
labels on exported cigarettes, for example, and take steps to reduce
cigarette smuggling.

In addition, if there is a settlement, some of the money should be used to
support tobaccoeducation programs run by UNICEF, the World Health
Organization and the World Bank. Americans have been teaching people in
developing countries to smoke for years. It is time we started teaching
them not to.