Dole Explains Tobacco Stance To Dr. Koop

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 28) -- Trying to blunt criticism that he's pro-tobacco, presumptive GOP nominee Robert Dole admitted he's no medical expert on addiction in a letter to former surgeon general Dr. C. Everett Koop.

Koop had attacked Dole's recent comment that smoking may not be addictive for everyone. Dole's remarks, said Koop, who served in the Reagan Administration, "either expressed his abysmal lack of knowledge of nicotine addiction or his blind support of the tobacco industry."

In a letter to Koop, Dole said his comments were based on his "personal observations...that for some people it is addictive, and for others it may not be." Adding that he is not a doctor, Dole added, "These judgments are best made by professionals in the field like yourself."

Dole discussed in the letter his own bout with smoking and the loss of his only brother, Kenny, to smoking-related illnesses. "I can tell you that I personally learned many years ago that cigarettes are a terrible habit to break," he said. Smoking, especially among teenagers, is a habit he personally discourages, Dole said.

Still, Dole said again that the Food and Drug Administration should not regulate nicotine as a drug, adding that Congress should reevaluate the FDA's mission. The FDA, he said, should devote its time to approving much-needed medical devices, instead of imposing heavy restrictions on a product that is legal.

Dole's recent remarks on addiction have sparked intense political heat, with "Buttman," a person dressed as a cigarette, now following Dole on the campaign trail.

Vice President Al Gore, whose sister died of smoking-related lung cancer, has criticized Dole for accepting $385,000 from tobacco companies and taking trips on tobacco industry corporate jets. Dole retorted that Gore also accepted tobacco money and grew tobacco on his Tennessee farm.

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