Disappointed by the fiasco of the 1974 Tobacco Control Decree, anti-tobacco advocates looked for other ways of halting the tobacco epidemic. In 1979 the Minister of Health requested the Minister of the Food Industry to introduce warning labels on cigarette packages.147 In 1980 the
Polish Tobacco Monopoly started printing health warnings – ‘Smoking may be dangerous to health’ – on cigarette packets. The Catholic daily Słowo Powszechne described the move ‘as a major victory for the Anti-Smoking Committee.’148 The authorities were willing to support certain
tobacco control measures – but only those that did not limit the access of Poles’ to cigarettes and threaten to provoke social unrest. Regulations such as advertising bans, or health warning labels on packaging, lay in the inoffensive category. The resistance of policymakers started when more invasive changes were proposed, such as smoking restrictions in public places, or price increases. Nonetheless, by the mid-1980s, with the temporary stabilisation of the political situation in Poland, and with the threat posed by Solidarity seemingly contained, public health advocates
144 IPN BU 1098/12, "Pismo PTP dotyczące ograniczenia palenia tytoniu [PTP letter regarding limiting
smoking tobacco]," ibid.(1985-1986).
145 IPN BU 0355/65, "Materiały Wydziału II Biura "C" MSW zawierające przepisy centralne i zarządzenia z lat
1986-1988 [Ministry of Internal Affairs materials regarding the central laws and decrees from the years 1986-1988]," ibid.(1986-1988).
146 Zajączkowski, Zanim zapalisz - przeczytaj [Before you light up - read up] . P. 43.
147 A. Grzybowski, "Przegląd rozwoju podstaw prawnych działalności antynikotynowej [Review of legal
bases for anti-tobacco activity]," in Oświata zdrowotna w walce z paleniem tytoniu [Health education in countering tobacco smoking], ed. A. Grzybowski(Warsaw: Państwowy Zakład Wydawnictw Lekarskich, 1981).
148 Unknown, "Poles get smoking warning," ed. Philadelphia Inquirer(Tobacco Institute Records; RPCI
148 attempted to bring the issue of low cigarette prices back to the table. The Polish Anti-tobacco Society, increasingly supported by the medical community, was becoming more assertive in voicing its opinions in mass media, and in supplying the MoH with data and examples from other countries. In January 1984 an Interministerial Committee for Counteracting Tobacco Smoking was formed at the MoH.149 It included the Viceminister of Health and the Chief Sanitary
Inspector, the leaders of the PTP, railway health inspectors, representatives of the ministries of science and culture, the Women’s League, as well as Polish state TV. The main duties of the committee were to analyse developments in smoking rates, issue opinions on anti-smoking programmes, collaborate with the tobacco industry on improving the quality of tobacco products, and also recommend legislative solutions.150 In February 1986, the Chief Sanitary
Inspector Jerzy Bończak expressed outrage in a radio interview over the fact that cigarette prices were being reduced. The Minister of Health, Mirosław Cybulko supported him, quoting Canadian and Swedish research showing the high costs of smoking, and criticised ‘people who believe that the production of cigarettes should be a profitable business for the state.’151 In its reports issued
to the government in the 1980s the MoH and Sanepid estimated the economic losses connected to smoking in Poland, resulting from work absence, cost of treatment, and high mortality of working age adults, at around five times higher than the state’s revenue from selling tobacco products.152
In the 1980s the MoH, together with the Sanepid, twice approached the government with proposals of anti-tobacco legislation that would replace the failed 1974 Tobacco Control Decree. The 1983 proposal was based on a package of policy recommendations prepared by the Polish anti-tobacco advocates with the help of experts from the Union for International Cancer Control, and Finnish tobacco control researchers. The new policy was to consist of two decrees that would be issued by the Council of Ministers rather than the MoH, seeing that its 1974 decree was ignored by the other ministries. The first decree, ‘regarding limiting smoking tobacco due to health reasons’ would:
149 Międzyresortowa Komisja do Spraw Przeciwdziałania Paleniu Tytoniu
150 Unknown, "The establishment of Intergovernment Department Commission for the counteration of
tobacco smoking," Przegląd Przeciwtytoniowy 1 (1984).
151 Zajączkowski, Zanim zapalisz - przeczytaj [Before you light up - read up] . Pp. 16-18.
152 IPN BU 1098/10, "Projekt uchwały Rady Ministrów w sprawie: ograniczenia palenia tytoniu ze względów
zdrowotnych, funduszu przeciwtytoniowego [Proposal of Council of Ministers decree regarding limiting smoking tobacco due to health reasons and an anti-tobacco fund]."
149 create a Committee for Countering Tobacco Smoking to advise the Prime Minister,
evaluate anti-tobacco programmes, co-ordinate anti-tobacco activity of state institutions, initiate a process of technological and quality improvement of tobacco production, support the functioning of the Anti-tobacco Society, and develop international collaborations, including with the WHO;
constrain the ministries and state institutions to engage in anti-tobacco activities, including school education, cessation treatment, and introducing bans on smoking in their facilities;
oblige the Minister of Agriculture to establish a threshold on ‘how much nicotine and other harmful substances are contained in tobacco’.
The second decree would establish an anti-tobacco fund, based on a special supplement of 0.50 złoty on each packet of tobacco products sold. The fund would be managed by the MoH and earmarked for anti-tobacco education, improving the quality of tobacco products, production of cessation drugs, financing cessation advice clinics, research activity on the effects of smoking, the functioning of the Anti-tobacco Society, and an increase in the number of anti-tobacco
publications. The expected amount of the fund was PLN 2.5 billion (equivalent of roughly £66 million today).153
The debate on the proposal within the government was over before it really started – health advocates active at the time remember that it was one of the most quickly rejected policy recommendations in their professional lives.154 The proposal for the creation of an anti-tobacco
fund was opposed by the Minister of Finance, who questioned its purpose and suggested combining it with the existing anti-alcohol fund. The remaining provisions were opposed, ironically, on the grounds that the meagre effects of the 1974 Tobacco Control Decree were proof that no amount of regulation can make people stop smoking. The swift rejection of MoH’s proposal underscores the weakness of the health ministry, as well as the unwillingness of the country’s political leadership to engage even in the discussion over tobacco control regulation in the context of the delicate political situation in Poland in the early 1980s.155
153 Ibid.
154 K. Przewoźniak, interview by M. Zatoński, 9 January, 2016; Zatoński, "Interview."
155 IPN BU 1098/10, "Projekt uchwały Rady Ministrów w sprawie: ograniczenia palenia tytoniu ze względów
zdrowotnych, funduszu przeciwtytoniowego [Proposal of Council of Ministers decree regarding limiting smoking tobacco due to health reasons and an anti-tobacco fund]."
150 In May 1988 another legislative proposal, this time for a bill regarding ‘nicotine abstinence and countering smoking tobacco’ was circulated around the ministries by the MoH, in the hope that the government would decide to send it to Parliament for discussion.156 The bill in its original
form would:
oblige state administration organs to undertake anti-tobacco propaganda and education, improve the quality of tobacco products, increase cigarette prices, introduce smoking restrictions in public places and workplaces, and limit the availability of tobacco products;
set up an advisory committee to the Minister of Health responsible for designing an anti- tobacco action programme, consisting of representatives of state, social, and religious organisations;
create an Anti-Tobacco Fund to cover the costs of the anti-tobacco initiatives, this time drawn from 5% of the cost of tobacco products. The Fund was to be administered by the Polish Anti-tobacco Society in collaboration with the MoH;
ban the sale of tobacco to people under-18;
introduce more prominent health warning labels on tobacco packaging.157
Chastened by the 1983 debacle, the MoH justified the need for the bill arguing that while a piece of legislation might not solve the problem of smoking by itself, it could form the basis of
comprehensive anti-tobacco activity. The bans and restrictions were to be followed in the long term by the development of an ‘appropriate social climate’ with the use of propaganda and education, especially targeting youth. The Minister of Health argued that ‘change in mentality takes time, but it leads to durable change. On the other hand, immediate action was also necessary, action that could help bring about a decline in smoking prevalence in Poland – raising the prices of cigarettes, decreasing availability, and limiting the content of toxic chemicals in tobacco products.’158
However, as was the case with the 1983 decree proposal, doubts were voiced about the legality of some of the measures, including the idea of fining employers who failed to enforce the ban on
156 IPN BU 1098/15, "Opinia dotycząca projektu ustawy o wychowaniu w abstynencji nikotynowej i
przeciwdziałaniu paleniu tytoniu [Opinion on the bill regarding nicotine abstinence and countering smoking tobacco]," ibid.(1988).
157 IPN BU 1585/25014, "Abstynencja nikotynowa i przeciwdziałanie paleniu tytoniu - projekt ustawy
[Nicotine abstinence and countering smoking tobacco - legislative proposal]," ibid.
151 smoking in workplaces. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also pointed out that the government could not legislate a ban on smoking in places that were not public, such as certain eateries or offices.159 Unlike in 1983 though, the proposal was not rejected out of hand, but instead returned
for further consultation. Nonetheless, this time political turbulence stood in the way of legislation – the collapse of the government in October 1988 sparked another political crisis which
eventually culminated in the fall of the Communist regime in Poland. Tobacco control fell off the political radar until the 1990s.160