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Tobacco Institute

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Tobacco Institute and tobacco company lawyer from 1981 to 1995 [[John Rupp]] (now a partner at the [[Covington & Burling]] law and lobbying firm) countered Schwartz's charges at the federal trial. He said "the industry sought out scientists and paid them to make an 'objective appraisal' of whether secondhand smoke was harmful to non-smokers, a move they hoped would dispel the 'extreme views' of some anti-smoking activists." He claimed that "the scientists, who came from prestigious institutions such as Georgetown University and the University of Massachusetts, did not consider themselves to be working 'on behalf' of cigarette makers even though they were being paid by the industry." But government lawyers showed documents "that described the research initiative as a 'weapon' to be used in a 'battle' with anti-smoking groups, and that part of Rupp's job was to 'horse-shed' scientists to make sure they stuck to the tobacco industry line," according to ''Reuters''. [http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=6634262]
In a February 1989 [http://tobaccodocuments.org/ti/TI11871006-1025.html?zoom=750&ocr_position=above_foramatted&start_page=11 speech] to the Executive Committee of the now-defunct [[Tobacco Institute]], the group's Senior Vice President, Charles Powers, sought to save the industry's covert "Scientific Witness" program from impending budget cuts. The program, he said, featured experts "who are our front line of defense in tax, public smoking and advertising hearings every day." [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ylk40c00] Powers complained that "scientists will not buck for love" the scientific consensus on the link between environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and health impacts. "It takes money," he said. "The Institute [[Third-party technique|can't do it and be taken seriously]]. We need people who have earned reputations as serious researchers...who can review and critique articles, publish and act as peer reviewers," he said. Powers estimated that it cost an average of $40,000 and took six weeks to identify and train a single expert. [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ylk40c00] The Tobacco Institute was parodied as the Academy of Tobacco Studies in the 1994 Christopher Buckley novel and 2006 film "Thank You For Smoking." [http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/ferguson200603170754.asp]
==Tobacco Institute Documents==
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