DATE: Saturday, May 3, 1997                 TAG: 9705030274

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NEW YORK                          LENGTH:   27 lines

TOBACCO EXEC EQUATES GUMMY BEARS, CIGARETTES

The president of Philip Morris Cos. said in a sworn deposition that tobacco is no more addictive than Gummy Bears candy.

James Morgan's April 17 videotaped statements are part of a class-action lawsuit filed by flight attendants over secondhand smoke.

Portions of the video will be broadcast Sunday on ``60 Minutes.''

When attorney Stanley Rosen blatt asked Morgan if he believed cigarette smoking was addictive, Morgan replied, ``Pharmacologically, my answer is no.

``If they are behaviorally addictive or habit-forming, they are much more like caffeine, or, in my case, Gummy Bears,'' he said. ``I love Gummy Bears . don't like it when I don't eat my Gummy Bears, but I'm certainly not addicted to them.''

A Philip Morris spokeswoman complained that ``60 Minutes'' gave short shrift to Morgan's discussion of the pharmacological reasons he believes tobacco isn't addictive. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Illustration]

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