Tobacco Executives Swear Cigarettes Are Not Deadly

MIAMI - Four top tobacco-company executives said under oath that smoking cannot kill, despite Liggett Group's admission a month ago that smoking is addictive and can cause cancer.

In private depositions given last week, the executives reiterated long-held industry statements about the dangers of tobacco, according to transcripts and videotapes obtained by the Miami Herald.

The depositions were given in response to class-action lawsuits filed by Stanley Rosenblatt, a Florida lawyer.

Rosenblatt talked to James Morgan, president of Philip Morris; Andrew Schindler, president of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco; Nick Brookes, chief executive of Brown & Williamson; and Alexander Spears, chairman of Lorillard Tobacco.

The depositions were lengthy and sometimes personal. Spears' father, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. Schindler's father, who smoked three packs a day, had circulation problems and died from a stroke.

Nevertheless, Schindler said, he does not believe tobacco is deadly or conclusively linked to any illness. He does not believe tobacco is any more addictive than coffee or carrots.

"Carrot addiction?" the lawyer asked incredulously.

"Yes," Schindler answered. "There was British research on carrots."

Schindler smokes more than a pack a day, and his wife smokes a pack a day. She tried to quit once. He tried to quit twice.

Spears said he quit smoking in 1977, though he still has an occasional cigarette. He said he stopped because he had a heart attack.

Morgan said he began smoking as a college freshman and still smokes three packs a week.

He has quit three times, never for more than a year. The last time was in 1987, after he suffered a collapsed lung.

The depositions came less than a month after Liggett, maker of L&Ms and Chesterfields, settled 22 state lawsuits - including one from Washington state - by agreeing to label its cigarettes addictive and admitting cigarettes are targeted to teenagers and cause cancer.

Schindler and other executives testified repeatedly that smoking is nothing more than a "risk factor" for cancer and other diseases.

"My view is that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for those diseases, and it may cause those diseases," Schindler said. "I do not know if it does or doesn't in that sense. I believe that maybe it's a risk factor."

Morgan said cigarette smoking "may possibly cause cancer."