EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

Tobacco whistleblower to discuss experiences in the industry, current smoking issues, including e-cigarettes

DATE: 3-4 p.m., Oct. 29, 2014.

EVENT: The whistleblower whose story was told in a movie starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino will discuss the potential public health impact and controversy surrounding e-cigarettes, the science of tobacco engineering that promotes addiction, and the current state of the tobacco industry.

Jeffrey Wigand, a senior executive at Brown & Williamson, publicly exposed the company’s efforts to increase the addictive components in cigarettes. He lost his job, received death threats and assisted the FDA with an investigation. His story inspired the 1999 movie, “The Insider.”

Brown & Williamson once manufactured more than a dozen cigarette brands, including Lucky Strike, Kool and Viceroy. It merged with R.J. Reynolds in 2004, creating Reynolds American, Inc., the second largest tobacco company in the United States.

With the ongoing debate about the safety of e-cigarettes, Wigand plans to discuss what major stakeholders should do about them, including the FDA, states, cities and university campuses.

The University of Michigan has a smoke-free campus but does not ban smokeless tobacco or e-cigarettes.

PLACE: School of Public Health, Auditorium 1755, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor.

SPONSOR: School of Public Health, U-M Tobacco Research Network, Tobacco Free College Campus Initiative, University Health Service, MHealthy, Knight-Wallace Fellows at Michigan and the University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center

INFORMATION: http://bit.ly/1sCRI0n
Wigand: www.jeffreywigand.com/index.php

MEDIA: RSVP to Terri Mellow to cover the event, [email protected], (734) 764-8094.