R.J. Reynolds chief: Smoking isn't addicting

MIAMI (CNN) -- The head of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. testified Wednesday that the word "addiction" does not apply to smokers because thousands of them have quit. He also said there was no proof secondhand smoke causes lung cancer.

Andrew Schindler, president of the company that makes Winston, Salem, Camel and Doral cigarettes, made his comments in a videotaped deposition in a suit filed against the tobacco industry by more than 60,000 flight attendants.

The flight attendants are seeking damages from the tobacco industry, claiming their health has been damaged by the secondhand smoke they breathed while working on airplanes.

Asked about the addictive qualities of cigarettes, Schindler cited recent British research talking about addiction to carrots.

"Carrots?" Stanley Rosenblatt, attorney for the attendants, said in astonishment.

"I say to you that cigarettes are like caffeine, not like heroin and cocaine," Schindler said, talking about the broad definition of addiction. "In terms of cigarettes, I don't think the word (addicted) applies."

Schindler said the fact that a large number of smokers have quit in their lifetimes proves his point. "If you want to quit smoking, you can quit smoking," he said. He made his statements in an April interview.

Asked whether secondhand smoke causes cancer, Schindler said, "There's absolutely no proof for it."

Jurors have heard weeks of testimony from a parade of doctors and chemists who said smoke causes lung cancer and other illnesses in both smokers and nonsmokers exposed to smoke.

Schindler was confronted with a series of Reynolds advertisements on secondhand smoke, including one from 1984 titled "Secondhand Smoke: The Myth and The Reality."

He didn't repudiate the word "myth," but said, "We believe that there is not scientific evidence that secondhand smoke causes disease."

When pressed about health risks for smokers, he acknowledged only that smoking may be a risk factor for lung cancer and other diseases. He said genetics, diet, exercise or lack thereof also may be risk factors to cancer-related diseases.

"Is there any greater risk factor than smoking?" asked Rosenblatt.

"I don' know," Schindler responded.

Former tobacco model condemns smoking

Alan Landers, 57, a ruggedly handsome model who appeared in Winston ads in the 1960s, was a spectator in the courtroom. Landers has a lawsuit pending against Reynolds, blaming the company's cigarettes for his lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease and vocal cord problems.

Addressing reporters in a sometimes raspy voice, Landers, who began smoking at age 9, said, "I never would have endorsed the product. I never would have endorsed Winston cigarettes if I knew I was giving kids a death sentence, and myself."

• Health Special: Smoking

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