Editorials
Thursday, September 18, 1997WHEN the $368 billion tobacco agreement negotiated by state attorneys general was announced last June, President Clinton seemed pleased with its terms and was deemed likely to support it. Now he has -- after a fashion. He called the agreement an historic achievement and a good starting point. But he has proposed stiffening its terms so much that some are saying the original agreement is dead. The question is whether the tobacco industry will accept the proposed changes or wage an all-out fight in the courts that could last years. Clinton’s stand dooms
tobacco agreementThe president said any legislation must cut smoking by teen-agers, penalize the industry if this does not happen in a way that could raise cigarette prices by up to $1.50 a pack over 10 years and protect the federal govern-ment's right to regulate nicotine as a drug. Clinton said he also wants a ban on the marketing of cigarettes to teen-agers, reductions in exposure to second-hand smoke and global efforts to control tobacco use.
In the original agreement, the tobacco companies made concessions in return for immunity from certain types of lawsuits. But Clinton did not endorse immunity, saying that depended on how far the companies were willing to go in cutting youth smoking.
Public health advocates, tobacco industry representatives and state attorneys general all responded favorably to the president's comments and pronounced them as improving the chances of reaching a national settlement. But it is difficult to see how the tobacco companies can go along if they are denied their main goal -- immunity from litigation.
It was predictable that the president and Congress would seek to put their own stamp on the tobacco settlement. They weren't about to let those upstart state attorneys general set national policy on the issue. Congress, of course, has yet to weigh in but is sure to make plenty of changes too before final agreement is reached -- if it ever is. In the meantime, the political posturing has started. Clinton presumably believes it's popular to take a harder line. The tobacco companies have few defenders these days, at least in public.
The June agreement has been effectively shelved by Clinton's judgment that it isn't tough enough. He's probably right about that, but the prospect now is for months, perhaps years of further negotiation -- in Congress and with tobacco companies -- before a deal is struck that will stick. And it may never happen.
THE death of a 2-year-old girl who was allegedly kicked by her mother at their Wheeler Army Airfield residence is a grim reminder of the tragedy of child abuse. The Honolulu Police Department's decision to assign four specially trained detectives to investigate abuse cases is a welcome improvement in law enforcement's capability to deal with the problem. Child abuse
A police spokeswoman says no officers are currently assigned specifically to respond to complaints of child abuse. That will change Oct. 1.
When police beat officers handle child-abuse complaints, a pediatrician told state lawmakers, they sometimes handle them insensitively or fail to ask the right questions. Dr. Cynthia Tinsley said the system is fragmented, which makes assessment and prosecution more difficult.
Assignment of specially trained detectives to child-abuse cases should help. Abusers must not go unpunished.
DESPITE all the claims about the dangers of silicone breast implants and the lawsuits against manufacturers, there is no strong scientific evidence linking the implants to breast cancer or other diseases. This finding has been reaffirmed by two federal researchers in a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers even say their review of scientific literature suggests that implants could actually help protect women against breast cancer. Breast implants
The conclusion of the research review conflicts with the statements in lawsuits by thousands of women who link silicone breast implants to a wide variety of diseases. About 100,000 women have settled lawsuits with manufacturers of the implants and about a half million others have reserved the right to sue. Thousands of suits are pending.
The largest breast implant study yet attempted -- a 15-year study of 13,500 women -- is being evaluated and results are expected in about a year. But the studies thus far simply do not support the claims that implants cause disease.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
