Tobacco industry whistle blower Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, the subject of the 1999 Hollywood movie “The Insider,” is set to speak to Kaua’i students. Wigand will be on Kaua’i next week to warn students about the dangers of smoking. He scheduled
Tobacco industry whistle blower Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, the subject of the 1999 Hollywood movie “The Insider,” is set to speak to Kaua’i students.
Wigand will be on Kaua’i next week to warn students about the dangers of smoking.
He scheduled to make a presentation at Chiefess Kamakahelei School in Puhi on Wednesday, Feb. 27.
Wigand publicly provided information on how the American tobacco industry engaged in practices to keep smokers hooked on cigarettes.
His efforts helped force large American tobacco companies to pay out billions of dollars in settlement in the face of lawsuits filed by attorney generals from dozens of states and lawsuits filed by victims of smoking, anti-smoking advocates on Kaua’i say.
Wigand’s visit to Kaua’i is aimed at encouraging Kaua’i students not to smoke to stay healthy, said Janice Bond, a board member of the Kaua’i branch of the American Cancer society.
More youths than adults smoke in Hawai’i, and nearly 30 percent of the youths in grades 9-12 smoke, according to a HMSA study on Hawai’i’s heath care system.
Students who continue to smoke can eventually die from “smoke-related illnesses,” the study warns.
Wigand’s presentation could help students begin to understand the dangers of smoking and to avoid such a fate, Bond said.
“It means a lot to have somebody of his caliber in the trenches, sort of speak, knowing what the tobacco industry has been doing to people,” by withholding information on the addictive nature of nicotine, Bond said.
Wigand examined the practices of the tobacco industry to boost sales, later joining other tobacco whistle blowers in charging the companies knew of the dangers of nicotine addiction, but kept it a secret.
Wigand also fought efforts by companies to destroy files that could have been used in lawsuits.
Wigand, a one-time top tobacco scientist working at the Brown and Williamson Tobacco in Louisville, Ky., came under attack by the tobacco industry after going public with his revelations.
Wigand claimed his severance pay and healthcare benefits were put in jeopardy, and that physical threats were made. Wigand also claimed his lawyers’ car was broken into in Washington D.C.
The movie the “The Insider” begins with CBS “60 Minutes” producer Lowell Bergman, played by the actor Al Pacino in the movie, pursuing Wigand. The movie ends with an interview with Mike Wallace, played by the actor Christopher Plummer.
Wigand is currently working with Canadian health groups to interpret documents on the impact of nicotine and smoking.
Wigand delivered similar messages about the dangers of nicotine during a visit to Honolulu last spring.
During Wigand’s visit to Kaua’i,, the state Department of Health plans to conduct training sessions Feb. 26 on the sale of cigarettes to the public.
