Cancer Tied To Cigarettes In UHS Study

The University Health Services yesterday issued a report warning that heavy cigarette smoking can result in lung cancer and other serious diseases.

Dr. Benjamin G. Ferris '40, Director of Environmental Health and Safety, who led the study of smoking and its effects, said yesterday that he "personally encourages students not to smoke." He said that his research over the past year has convinced him that smoking is definitely related to a number of diseases.

Ferris' report will be distributed in the next week to all the deans and Masters "to take action as they see fit." It will also be available at the University Health Services.

Deans Plan No Statement

Dean Watson said yesterday that he is "opposed to releasing any statement from the Dean's Office dealing with smoking. I know of no move on our part to follow the Columbia example." The Columbia University Health Services last month posted warnings on all campus cigarette vending machines, warning that students should not smoke since it is detrimental to their health.

Watson said it will be up to each individual Master to decide how students should be informed of the report's findings. One Master, David E. Owen of Winthrop House, said last night that he would place copies of the smoking study in the House dining hall when he receives it.

The Health Services report quotes a report of the Royal College of Physicians of London, which says that "the only benefits of smoking are psychological and social; it is a cause of lung cancer and bronchitis." It goes on to say that the relative risk of developing lung cancer is five tmies as great for cigarette smokers as non-smokers.

Problem of Concern Here

The smoking problem varies among communities, Ferris claimed. "The more intellectual tend to believe what they read on this subject and not smoke," he said. While the problem may not be as serious at Harvard as elsewhere, he feels that it is still serious here.

Ferris will continue to study the smoking problem under several research grants of the School of Public Health. Definite statistics are not yet available, but Ferris made a "rough guess" that "about 20 per cent of Harvard students are smokers when they enter, and about 40 per cent leave school as smokers."

One step the Health Services may take, Ferris suggested, is to intensify the warnings about smoking which examining physicians give freshmen during examinations at the beginning of the year.