Our panel has been assigned the job of reacting to the first day of this meeting day in all of its breadth and glory, so we have no specific assignment other than to give our own reactions as we see fit.

I will have a shot at that more formally tomorrow when I give my policy presentation and, hence, I will not give any of my comments at the outset. I usually find myself unable to resist jumping in, so I may do that at a later stage, but for now I will simply serve as moderator and introduce the other panellists.

Dr Neal Benowitz is Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Pharmacy and Chief of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr Benowitz was a scientific editor of the Surgeon General’s report on smoking and health that gave a very prominent new emphasis to nicotine addiction.

Dr George Bigelow is Professor of Behavioural Biology in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also the president elect of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

Dr Bob Robinson is Assistant Director for Program Development for the Office on Smoking and Health. Dr Robinson’s interest in tobacco policy research was influenced by the recognition that the historical relationship between the tobacco industry and the African- American community and the underrepresentation of African-Americans in mainstream tobacco control movements were interrelated, and I think it is quite safe to say that, for at least the past several years, he has been one of the most influential and important voices in dealing with an issue that all of us recognise has been much underrepresented in our collective agendas.

Finally, Dr Frank Vocci is the Deputy Director of the …