Background Information

On February 14, 1994, chief executive officers of the largest tobacco companies in the United States testified in a six hour hearing before congress that they believed nicotine to not be an addictive drug. (View video here). Among those who testified was Thomas Sandefur, the CEO of Brown & Williamson, former employer of Jeffrey Wigand.

The hearing was aired live on national television, beginning with an opening statement given by Henry A. Waxman, a chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee of Health and the Environment. “The truth is that cigarettes are the single most dangerous consumer product ever sold. Nearly a half million Americans die every year as a result of tobacco,” Waxman said.

But statements concerning the damaging effects of smoking cigarettes came long before the hearing in 1994. Scientific research began proving these claims for quite some time. In 1950, a study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, linking lung cancer to smoking. Ernst L. Wynder and Evarts A. Graham published “Tobacco Smoking as a Possible Etiologic Factor in Bronchiogenic Carcinoma: A Study of 684 Proved Cases,” stating that ninety-six percent of lung cancer patients interviewed considered themselves moderate to heavy chain smokers. Dr. Wynder also published a study that same year revealing that the tars from tobacco smoke caused skin cancer when brushed on mice.

As the scientific community became more aware of the harmful effects of cigarettes and began educating the general public, lawmakers were beginning to question the claims given by tobacco tycoons that smoking cigarettes didn’t cause any health problems. The federal government began restricting tobacco marketing. Congress banned cigarette ads on television and radio in 1969.



But the question congress wanted answered didn't necessarily concern the harmful effects of cigarettes. They wanted to know if tobacco companies were aware of the additive nicotine being an agent in addiction. On national TV, the CEO's of these companies denied any knowledge of nicotine being addictive. Two years later, Wigand's segment on 60 Minutes was aired, where he described cigarettes to be a nicotine carrier. "You'll get your fix," he said.

After the 60 Minutes interview was aired in 1996, anti-smoking legislation became more prominent. On August 23, 1996, President Clinton approved new FDA regulations, allowing the FDA to regulate cigarettes as a drug delivery device. In 1997, the United States Congress passed a bill prohibiting the Department of State to promote the sale or export of tobacco. On March 21, 1997, Liggett Tobacco issues a statement: “We at Liggett know and acknowledge that, as the Surgeon General and respected medical researchers have found, cigarette smoking causes health problems, including lung cancer, heart and vascular disease and emphysema”. Liggett had been sued by twenty two states for marketing their product to teenagers. Their statement continued: “Liggett acknowledges that the tobacco industry markets to ‘youth,’ which means those under 18 years of age, and not just those 18-24 years of age.”

After exposing truths about big tobacco companies, Jeffrey Wigand began a career of motivational speaking and educating people about the dangers of tobacco smoke. Wigand has worked with Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York and other legislators to restrict smoking and to ban smoking in public areas. Wigand has also gone so far as to travel to countries such as Ireland, New Zealand and Canada to educate lawmakers about the dangers of second hand smoke.  "He provided many of the ideas. He provided a lot of the energy," said Alan Rock, Canada's former health minister. "But perhaps more than anything else, he gave us a certain public momentum we might not otherwise have had.”

In an article published by Jeff Wigand in the British Medical Journal in 2001, Wigand said:

"The Insider, in addition to depicting tobacco industry executives accurately as merchants of death and greed who will do anything to save their addictive killing product, also dramatically shows how one person can make a difference by standing up and being counted. The power of the press and truth can win out. Movies have the capacity to make a difference; especially those that convey positive and realistic messages regarding tobacco use. Based on my experience and reading the research of the authors, I strongly support efforts that continue to demystify the labyrinth of misinformation the tobacco industry has fostered for so many decades."