Less Irritation, Please

No one knows to what extent cigarettes irritate the throat. But one thing is certain: cigarette advertising irritates the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Last week* the Journal complained that advertising is leaning heavily on references to the medical profession, with more & more emphasis on throat irritation. Huffed the Journal: "It would be difficult indeed to differentiate between the irritation caused by the smoking of cigarettes and that caused by various bacteria, chemicals or heat." If the cigarette companies do not mend their talk, it hinted darkly, the Government might crack down.

Explained the Journal's editor, Dr. Morris Fishbein, a nonsmoker: "We have noticed an increasing trend to make health claims in cigarette ads, and we think this practice is unfair and unwise. The A.M.A. believes in self-regulation by industry, if possible. By printing this editorial, the A.M.A. is making an attempt to encourage industry to look into this situation itself."

* The same issue contained a full-page ad for Camels ("See if your throat doesn't welcome Camel's cool, cool mildness") and one for Philip Morris ("The only leading cigarette to be proved definitely and measurably less irritating").

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