Montreal Research Conference, 1967

The 1967 R&D conference was held in Montreal over three days in October {1165.01; 1165.02; 1165.03}. The document we have is probably a draft, since the official minutes are quoted in the minutes of the 1970 conference and differ somewhat from these notes (see below). The draft lists the main "assumptions made by R&D scientists," noting that they were listed "without any attempt to justify them or to agree on their correctness at this time." Although the draft is explicit that no attempt had been made to agree on these "main" assumptions, the minutes of the 1970 St. Adele conference reviewed the final 1967 assumptions and listed them without this qualification. The following assumptions had to do with nicotine:

There is a minimum level of nicotine. Smoking is an addictive habit attributable to nicotine and the form of nicotine affects the rate of absorption by the smoker .

...

If there is no inhaling, there is no lung cancer or respiratory disease.

Smoking has both physiological and psychological effects.

There will be some government involvement in the tobacco industry in the future [emphasis added]. {1165.01, p. 2}

A handwritten edit in the document changes the phrase "an addictive habit" to "a habit."

The meeting notes reflect a concern with the inevitability of future government regulation.

It was agreed that smoking is likely to be associated with health continuously in the future and that it was not a passing phase. It was likely, moreover, that tobacco would be involved in legislation of a food and drug administration nature in respect both of product and of manufacturer [emphasis added]. {1165.01, p. 4}

Thus, the nine assembled BAT scientists, including B&W representatives from Louisville, acknowledged that health concerns were never going to disappear. Furthermore, they felt that FDA-style product regulation could be justified by the public health community.

In a discussion of concurrent developments in cigarette filters, the use of "an alkaloid additive" to affect "the ratio of extractable to non-extractable nicotine" was emphasized {1165.02, p. 1}. The filter additive PEI (polyethyleneimine) was mentioned as a way to "be helpful in rendering the nicotine more available to the smoker" {1165.02, p. 4} in a "low TPM, normal nicotine" cigarette. TPM is total particulate matter; it consists mostly of tar. The participants also considered the development of a "low TPM, low nicotine cigarette" but wondered whether consumers would be attracted to such a brand. Someone mentioned that in Germany per capita cigarette consumption had risen as nicotine content had fallen. Participants agreed that more information was needed on the "optimal level" of nicotine for the smoker.

Ariel was discussed, as was "a cigarette aimed to be pleasantly non-inhalable" {1165.02, p. 5}. Moreover, "it was noted in passing that the trend towards making cigarlets [little cigars] milder and therefore more easily inhalable was undesirable on health grounds" {1165.02, p. 5}. These two comments echo sentiments recorded at other research conferences. They emphasize the importance of inhalation to the normal functioning of cigarettes as well as the fundamental problem that it poses in the causation of cancer and respiratory disease.

The importance of nicotine was emphasized in the discussion that closed the second day of the conference.

A general discussion followed on basic assumptions which guided thinking in the field of smoking and health. While recognizing the importance of psychological factors in smoking and the possibility that some smokers would accept non-nicotine cigarettes, it was felt that nicotine is important for the majority of smokers and that the form of nicotine can be significant . It was

also considered that nicotine will be increasingly subject to attack. It was agreed that there will be increasing government involvement in the industry [emphasis added]. {1165.02, p. 6}

In the context of the previous and current laboratory work conducted by BAT, these comments about nicotine can only refer to the importance of nicotine as a drug in tobacco products.