Tobacco industry insider to present talk on Sunday

Victor DeNoble has gone from secret tobacco researcher to key witness against the tobacco industry over the last few decades. On Sunday he will be in Kalispell for a discussion of the impact drugs can have on students.

DeNoble will be in town as part of “Through with Chew Week,” which takes place Feb. 20 through 26 as designated by the American Academy of Otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat physicians).

He will make a presentation at 6 p.m. Sunday to Flathead and Glacier high school STAND Club students, but the free discussion is open to the public as well.

DeNoble’s presentation takes place in the Flathead City-County Health Department’s second-floor conference room, located at 1035 First Ave. W. in Kalispell.

Drinks and light snacks will be provided and seating is limited, so those interested in attending are asked to RSVP to 751-8107 or 751-8260.

DeNoble headed a secret laboratory in Virginia for Philip Morris USA from 1980 to 1984. His task was to design a safer cigarette.

But at the lab, DeNoble also led experiments on rats to explore nicotine’s effects on the brain and central nervous system. He developed a nicotine substance that did not elevate heart rate.

Philip Morris suppressed DeNoble’s attempts to publish his work.

In 1984, the company shut down the lab, hid the researchers’ findings and fired DeNoble and his fellow scientists.

DeNoble is now the key government witness in the federal trial against the tobacco industry. He also is part of Kaiser Permanente’s “Don’t Buy the Lie” tobacco use prevention program.

Through that program, DeNoble presents “Inside the Darkness,” which discusses his life, research and experiences in the case against the tobacco industry.

DeNoble also offers “Biology of Addiction,” a drug workshop for seventh- through 12th-grade students that discusses the biological mechanisms of drug addictions. DeNoble reviews many of the drugs students are exposed to and talks about the side effects each has on biological systems.

For more information, contact the Flathead CARE office at 751-3971.