Tobacco industry
Encyclopedia
The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco
and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any warm, moist environment, which means it can be farmed on all continents except Antarctica. The tobacco industry is particularly significant for those seeking to understand modern public relations techniques and the operations of specific companies for two reasons. Firstly, as a global industry that came under sustained criticism from the mid-twentieth century onwards, it pioneered many big-budget campaigns that fueled the growth and evolution of the public relations industry. Secondly, as a result of legal actions against the major tobacco companies, there are now over 40 million pages of internal company documents publicly available on searchable websites that provide a fascinating insight into the inner workings of past and still running campaigns.
Tobacco, one of the most widely used addictive substances in the world, is a plant native to the Americas and historically one of the half-dozen most important crops grown by American farmers. More specifically, tobacco refers to any of various plants of the genus Nicotiana, (especially N. tabacum) native to tropical America and widely cultivated for their leaves, which are dried and processed chiefly for smoking in pipes, cigarettes, and cigars; it is also cut to form chewing tobacco or ground to make snuff or dipping tobacco, as well as other less common preparations. From 1617 to 1793 tobacco was the most valuable staple export from the English American mainland colonies and the United States. Until the 1960s, the United States not only grew but also manufactured and exported more tobacco than any other country.
Since 1964 conclusive epidemiological evidence of the deadly effects of tobacco consumption has led to a sharp decline in official support for producers and manufacturers of tobacco, although it contributes to the agricultural, fiscal, manufacturing, and exporting sectors of the economy. Tobacco is an agricultural commodity
product, similar in economic terms to agricultural food
stuffs: the price is in part determined by crop yields, which vary depending on local weather conditions. The price also varies by specific species
or cultivar
grown, the total quantity on the market ready for sale, the area where it was grown, the health of the plants, and other characteristics individual to product quality. Laws around the world now often have some restrictions on smoking, but 5.5 trillion cigarettes are still smoked each year. Tobacco is often heavily taxed to gain revenues for governments and as an incentive for people not to smoke.
, smoking
and articles on similar topics.
s, cigar
s, snuff
, chewing and pipe tobacco. The largest tobacco company in the world by volume is China National Tobacco Co.
. Following extensive merger and acquisition activity in the 1990s and 2000s, international markets are dominated by five firms: Philip Morris International
, British American Tobacco
(represented in the U.S. market by a 42% stake in Reynolds American, Inc.), Japan Tobacco
, Altria, and Imperial Tobacco
. In most countries these companies either have long established dominance, or have purchased the major domestic producer or producers, often a former state monopoly. The United States has one other substantial independent firm, Lorillard. India has its own major player, ITC Limited. There are a small number of surviving state monopolies, and some small independent firms.
Tobacco advertising
is becoming increasingly restricted around the world.
states. The suits claimed that tobacco causes cancer, that companies in the industry knew this, and that they deliberately understated the significance of their findings, contributing to the illness and death of many citizens in those states. Others argue that warning labels on cigarette packets clearly state the dangers of smoking and therefore lawsuits were unwarranted.
The industry was found to have decades of internal memos
confirming in detail that tobacco (which contains nicotine
) is both addictive
and carcinogen
ic (cancer-causing).
The suit resulted in a large cash settlement
being paid by a group of tobacco companies to the states that sued. Further, since the suit was settled, other individuals have come forth, in class action
lawsuit
s, claiming individual damages. New suits of this nature will probably continue for a long time.
Since the settlement is a heavy tax on the profits of the tobacco industry in the US, regressive against smokers, and further settlements being made only add to the financial burden of these companies, it is debatable if the industry has a money-producing long term outlook.
The tobacco industry has been largely successful in this litigation process, with the majority of cases being won by the industry. During the first 42 years of tobacco litigation (between 1954 and 1996) the industry maintained a clean record in litigation thanks to tactics described in a R J Reynolds Tobacco Company internal memo as "the way we won these cases, to paraphrase Gen. Patton, is not by spending all of Reynolds' money, but by making the other son of a bitch spend all of his." Between 1995 and 2005 59% of cases were won by the tobacco industry either outright or on appeal in the US, but the continued success of the industry's efforts to win these cases is questionable.
In June 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama
signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
which has been called a "sweeping anti-smoking" bill. Amongst other restrictions, this Act banned the use of any constituent, additive, herb or spice that adds a "characterizing flavor" to the tobacco product or smoke (Section 907)(a)(1)(A)http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1256enr.txt.pdf. The aim of this ban is to prevent children and teenagers from becoming addicted to cigarettes at a young age with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services citing that "studies have shown that 17 year old
smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as are smokers over the age of 25". This ban however does not apply to menthol cigarette
s, which are exempt from the bill.
Lawsuits against the tobacco industry are primarily restricted to the United States due to differences in legal systems in other countries. Many businesses class ongoing lawsuits as a cost of doing business in the US and feel their revenue will be only marginally affected by the activities http://www.bat.com/OneWeb/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/88CD3E64F551DBA380256BF400033142?opendocument&SID=&DTC=.
Participants in the industry argue that commercial tobacco production is a vital part of the American and world economy. They state that thousands of farmers in the United States, alone, make their living from raising tobacco leaves for use by the industry. They cite the fact that the tobacco industry contributes billions of dollars in tax revenue to the state and federal government every year.
People affected by or sympathetic to the large death rate attributable to active and/or passive tobacco use
cite the fact that half of all tobacco users die from tobacco-related causes worldwide. According to the World Health Organization
, that means that about 650 million current smokers will die from a preventable cause. They also indicate that smoking-related health problems
contribute to rising health care costs.
's Global Treaty on Tobacco Control
. This treaty places broad restrictions on the sale, advertising, shipment, and taxation of tobacco products. The U.S. has not yet ratified this treaty in its senate
and does not yet have a schedule for doing so.
Most recently, there has been discussion within the tobacco control community of transforming the tobacco industry through the replacement of tobacco corporation
s by other types of business organizations that can be established to provide tobacco to the market while not attempting to increase market demand.
On February 20, 2007, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Altria Group
(formerly Philip Morris) did not have to pay $79.5 million in punitive damages awarded to Mayola Williams in a 1999 Oregon court ruling, when she sued Phillip Morris for responsibility in the cancer death of her husband, Jesse Williams http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17239146/. The Supreme Court's decision overturns a ruling made by the Oregon Supreme Court
that upheld the award http://docket.medill.northwestern.edu/archives/003687.php.
On April 3, 2008, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit threw out a $800 billion class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of a group or class of people who smoked light cigarettes. The plaintiffs' lawyers were confident that they would be able to win this suit due to the success of the Schwab case wherein tobacco companies were found guilty of fraud-like charges because they were selling the idea that light cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes. The ruling by the three-judge panel will not allow the suit to be pursued as a class, but instead need proof for why individual smokers chose light cigarettes over regular cigarettes.
, Reynolds American
, Imperial Tobacco
and Philip Morris
are lobbying the European Union
to lift a ban on smokeless alternatives to cigarettes. This was imposed in Britain in 1990 after the US Smokeless Tobacco company attempted to bring pouches of snuff
(i.e. ground tobacco) for oral use, called Skoal
Bandits, to market. The move to lift the ban is supported by antismoking groups and the Royal College of Physicians
, as the oral snuff which the industry is attempting to introduce only verifiably increases the user's risk of pancreatic cancer
, but not of oral or lung cancer
. Indications of an increase in oral cancer are present in some studies, but have only very rarely been statistically significant.
Different types of smokeless tobacco carry different risk profiles. All have negative health effects, but appear to be safer than cigarettes. There is some concern that smokeless tobacco will be used as a "gateway" product to make marketing of cigarettes more effective. One example cited by opponents of this theory is snus
. Sweden has the lowest level of tobacco related illness in Europe, is the only country which has reduced its smoking below the WHO
's target level, and is the only EU country in which snus
is legal. Studies in Sweden indicate that people tend to switch from smoking to snus, rather than the other way around.)
Food and Agriculture Organization
estimates the following production of unprocessed tobacco by country/region in 2000. (Figures are in thousands of ton
nes.)
, until health regulating bodies tightened rules on tobacco advertisement and anti-smoking groups pressured actors and studio executives against such tactics. Big tobacco
has since been the object of such films as The Insider
(1999) and Thank You For Smoking
(2005).
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any warm, moist environment, which means it can be farmed on all continents except Antarctica. The tobacco industry is particularly significant for those seeking to understand modern public relations techniques and the operations of specific companies for two reasons. Firstly, as a global industry that came under sustained criticism from the mid-twentieth century onwards, it pioneered many big-budget campaigns that fueled the growth and evolution of the public relations industry. Secondly, as a result of legal actions against the major tobacco companies, there are now over 40 million pages of internal company documents publicly available on searchable websites that provide a fascinating insight into the inner workings of past and still running campaigns.
Tobacco, one of the most widely used addictive substances in the world, is a plant native to the Americas and historically one of the half-dozen most important crops grown by American farmers. More specifically, tobacco refers to any of various plants of the genus Nicotiana, (especially N. tabacum) native to tropical America and widely cultivated for their leaves, which are dried and processed chiefly for smoking in pipes, cigarettes, and cigars; it is also cut to form chewing tobacco or ground to make snuff or dipping tobacco, as well as other less common preparations. From 1617 to 1793 tobacco was the most valuable staple export from the English American mainland colonies and the United States. Until the 1960s, the United States not only grew but also manufactured and exported more tobacco than any other country.
Since 1964 conclusive epidemiological evidence of the deadly effects of tobacco consumption has led to a sharp decline in official support for producers and manufacturers of tobacco, although it contributes to the agricultural, fiscal, manufacturing, and exporting sectors of the economy. Tobacco is an agricultural commodity
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
product, similar in economic terms to agricultural food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
stuffs: the price is in part determined by crop yields, which vary depending on local weather conditions. The price also varies by specific species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
or cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
grown, the total quantity on the market ready for sale, the area where it was grown, the health of the plants, and other characteristics individual to product quality. Laws around the world now often have some restrictions on smoking, but 5.5 trillion cigarettes are still smoked each year. Tobacco is often heavily taxed to gain revenues for governments and as an incentive for people not to smoke.
History
For a history of how tobacco has been grown and marketed, see tobaccoTobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, smoking
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
and articles on similar topics.
Current position
The tobacco industry generally refers to the companies involved in the manufacture of cigaretteCigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s, cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
s, snuff
Snuff
Snuff is a product made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves. It is an example of smokeless tobacco. It originated in the Americas and was in common use in Europe by the 17th century...
, chewing and pipe tobacco. The largest tobacco company in the world by volume is China National Tobacco Co.
China National Tobacco Co.
China National Tobacco Corporation is by sales the largest single manufacturer of tobacco products in the world. It boasts a virtual monopoly in the People's Republic of China, which accounts for roughly 30% of the world’s total consumption of cigarettes....
. Following extensive merger and acquisition activity in the 1990s and 2000s, international markets are dominated by five firms: Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International is an international tobacco company, with products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and operating income of $8.9 billion.Until...
, British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...
(represented in the U.S. market by a 42% stake in Reynolds American, Inc.), Japan Tobacco
Japan Tobacco
, abbreviated JT, is a cigarette manufacturing company. It is part of the Nikkei 225 index. In 2009 the company was listed at number 312 on the Fortune 500 list. The company is headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo. The international headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.-History:The company...
, Altria, and Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
. In most countries these companies either have long established dominance, or have purchased the major domestic producer or producers, often a former state monopoly. The United States has one other substantial independent firm, Lorillard. India has its own major player, ITC Limited. There are a small number of surviving state monopolies, and some small independent firms.
Tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising is the advertising of tobacco products or use by the tobacco industry through a variety of media including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing...
is becoming increasingly restricted around the world.
Industry outlook in the United States
The tobacco industry in the United States has suffered greatly since the mid-1990s, when it was successfully sued by several U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
states. The suits claimed that tobacco causes cancer, that companies in the industry knew this, and that they deliberately understated the significance of their findings, contributing to the illness and death of many citizens in those states. Others argue that warning labels on cigarette packets clearly state the dangers of smoking and therefore lawsuits were unwarranted.
The industry was found to have decades of internal memos
Legacy Tobacco Documents Library
The Legacy Tobacco Documents Library is a digital archive of tobacco industry documents, funded by the American Legacy Foundation and created and maintained by the University of California, San Francisco...
confirming in detail that tobacco (which contains nicotine
Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...
) is both addictive
Substance use disorder
Substance use disorders include substance abuse and substance dependence. In DSM-IV, the conditions are formally diagnosed as one or the other, but it has been proposed that DSM-5 combine the two into a single condition called "Substance-use disorder"....
and carcinogen
Carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...
ic (cancer-causing).
The suit resulted in a large cash settlement
Master Settlement Agreement
The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was entered in November 1998, originally between the four largest US tobacco companies and the attorneys general of 46 states...
being paid by a group of tobacco companies to the states that sued. Further, since the suit was settled, other individuals have come forth, in class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s, claiming individual damages. New suits of this nature will probably continue for a long time.
Since the settlement is a heavy tax on the profits of the tobacco industry in the US, regressive against smokers, and further settlements being made only add to the financial burden of these companies, it is debatable if the industry has a money-producing long term outlook.
The tobacco industry has been largely successful in this litigation process, with the majority of cases being won by the industry. During the first 42 years of tobacco litigation (between 1954 and 1996) the industry maintained a clean record in litigation thanks to tactics described in a R J Reynolds Tobacco Company internal memo as "the way we won these cases, to paraphrase Gen. Patton, is not by spending all of Reynolds' money, but by making the other son of a bitch spend all of his." Between 1995 and 2005 59% of cases were won by the tobacco industry either outright or on appeal in the US, but the continued success of the industry's efforts to win these cases is questionable.
In June 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, is a United States federal law that gives the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate the tobacco industry...
which has been called a "sweeping anti-smoking" bill. Amongst other restrictions, this Act banned the use of any constituent, additive, herb or spice that adds a "characterizing flavor" to the tobacco product or smoke (Section 907)(a)(1)(A)http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h1256enr.txt.pdf. The aim of this ban is to prevent children and teenagers from becoming addicted to cigarettes at a young age with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services citing that "studies have shown that 17 year old
smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as are smokers over the age of 25". This ban however does not apply to menthol cigarette
Menthol cigarette
A menthol cigarette is a cigarette flavored with the compound menthol, a substance which triggers the cold-sensitive nerves in the skin without actually providing a drop in temperature....
s, which are exempt from the bill.
Lawsuits against the tobacco industry are primarily restricted to the United States due to differences in legal systems in other countries. Many businesses class ongoing lawsuits as a cost of doing business in the US and feel their revenue will be only marginally affected by the activities http://www.bat.com/OneWeb/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/88CD3E64F551DBA380256BF400033142?opendocument&SID=&DTC=.
Conflicting points of view
There are two entrenched interests that have opinions about the tobacco industry: (a) participants in the industry, and (b) people affected by the deaths attributable to tobacco use. These interests conflict as they involve large amounts of money, long-held (historically) belief systems, and the premature deaths of loved family members.Participants in the industry argue that commercial tobacco production is a vital part of the American and world economy. They state that thousands of farmers in the United States, alone, make their living from raising tobacco leaves for use by the industry. They cite the fact that the tobacco industry contributes billions of dollars in tax revenue to the state and federal government every year.
People affected by or sympathetic to the large death rate attributable to active and/or passive tobacco use
Passive smoking
Passive smoking is the inhalation of smoke, called secondhand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke , from tobacco products used by others. It occurs when tobacco smoke permeates any environment, causing its inhalation by people within that environment. Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke causes...
cite the fact that half of all tobacco users die from tobacco-related causes worldwide. According to the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, that means that about 650 million current smokers will die from a preventable cause. They also indicate that smoking-related health problems
Health effects of tobacco smoking
The health effects of tobacco are the circumstances, mechanisms, and factors of tobacco consumption on human health. Epidemiological research has been focused primarily on cigarette tobacco smoking, which has been studied more extensively than any other form of consumption.Tobacco is the single...
contribute to rising health care costs.
Tobacco control
On May 11, 2004, the U.S. became the 108th country to sign the World Health OrganizationWorld Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
's Global Treaty on Tobacco Control
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is a treaty adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003. It became the first World Health Organization treaty adopted under article 19 of the WHO constitution. The treaty came into force on February 27, 2005...
. This treaty places broad restrictions on the sale, advertising, shipment, and taxation of tobacco products. The U.S. has not yet ratified this treaty in its senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and does not yet have a schedule for doing so.
Most recently, there has been discussion within the tobacco control community of transforming the tobacco industry through the replacement of tobacco corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s by other types of business organizations that can be established to provide tobacco to the market while not attempting to increase market demand.
On February 20, 2007, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Altria Group
Altria Group
Altria Group, Inc. is based in Henrico County, Virginia, and is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton, Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, Inc., Philip Morris Capital Corporation, and Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. It is one of the world's largest tobacco corporations...
(formerly Philip Morris) did not have to pay $79.5 million in punitive damages awarded to Mayola Williams in a 1999 Oregon court ruling, when she sued Phillip Morris for responsibility in the cancer death of her husband, Jesse Williams http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17239146/. The Supreme Court's decision overturns a ruling made by the Oregon Supreme Court
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol...
that upheld the award http://docket.medill.northwestern.edu/archives/003687.php.
On April 3, 2008, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit threw out a $800 billion class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of a group or class of people who smoked light cigarettes. The plaintiffs' lawyers were confident that they would be able to win this suit due to the success of the Schwab case wherein tobacco companies were found guilty of fraud-like charges because they were selling the idea that light cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes. The ruling by the three-judge panel will not allow the suit to be pursued as a class, but instead need proof for why individual smokers chose light cigarettes over regular cigarettes.
Working to change smokeless tobacco control
As of 2007, British American TobaccoBritish American Tobacco
British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...
, Reynolds American
Reynolds American
Reynolds American, Inc. is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States. Its holdings include R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, American Snuff Company , Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company and Niconovum AB...
, Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
and Philip Morris
Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International is an international tobacco company, with products sold in over 160 countries. In 2007, it held a 15.6% share of the international cigarette market outside of the USA and reported revenues net of excise taxes of $22.8 billion and operating income of $8.9 billion.Until...
are lobbying the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
to lift a ban on smokeless alternatives to cigarettes. This was imposed in Britain in 1990 after the US Smokeless Tobacco company attempted to bring pouches of snuff
Snuff
Snuff is a product made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves. It is an example of smokeless tobacco. It originated in the Americas and was in common use in Europe by the 17th century...
(i.e. ground tobacco) for oral use, called Skoal
Skoal
Skoal may refer to:* Skoal, skål, or skál, exclamation in a toasting ceremony* Skoal tobaccoSee also:* Skoll * Skol beer...
Bandits, to market. The move to lift the ban is supported by antismoking groups and the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, as the oral snuff which the industry is attempting to introduce only verifiably increases the user's risk of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
, but not of oral or lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. Indications of an increase in oral cancer are present in some studies, but have only very rarely been statistically significant.
Different types of smokeless tobacco carry different risk profiles. All have negative health effects, but appear to be safer than cigarettes. There is some concern that smokeless tobacco will be used as a "gateway" product to make marketing of cigarettes more effective. One example cited by opponents of this theory is snus
Snus
Snus , or Swedish snuff, is a moist powder tobacco product originated from a variant of dry snuff in the early 19th century in Sweden, consumed by placing it under the lip for extended periods of time. The precursor of snus, the dry form of snuff inhaled through the nose, was introduced in Europe...
. Sweden has the lowest level of tobacco related illness in Europe, is the only country which has reduced its smoking below the WHO
Who
Who may refer to:* Who , an English-language pronoun* who , a Unix command* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism- Art and entertainment :* Who? , a 1958 novel by Algis Budrys...
's target level, and is the only EU country in which snus
Snus
Snus , or Swedish snuff, is a moist powder tobacco product originated from a variant of dry snuff in the early 19th century in Sweden, consumed by placing it under the lip for extended periods of time. The precursor of snus, the dry form of snuff inhaled through the nose, was introduced in Europe...
is legal. Studies in Sweden indicate that people tend to switch from smoking to snus, rather than the other way around.)
Production by country or region
The United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Food and Agriculture Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
estimates the following production of unprocessed tobacco by country/region in 2000. (Figures are in thousands of ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
nes.)
| Country or region | Production in thousands of tons |
|---|---|
 Mainland China |
2,298.8 |
 India |
595.4 |
 Brazil |
520.7 |
 United States |
408.2 |
 European Union |
314.5 |
 Zimbabwe |
204.9 |
 Turkey |
193.9 |
 Indonesia |
166.6 |
 Russia |
116.8 |
 Malawi |
108.0 |
Tobacco industry in popular culture
The tobacco industry has had a long relationship with the entertainment industry. In silent era movies, back-lit smoke was often used by filmmakers to create sense of mystery and sensuality in a scene. Later, cigarettes were deliberately placed in the hands of Hollywood stars as an early phase of product placementProduct placement
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, music videos, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the...
, until health regulating bodies tightened rules on tobacco advertisement and anti-smoking groups pressured actors and studio executives against such tactics. Big tobacco
Big Tobacco
Big Tobacco is a pejorative term often applied to the tobacco industry in general, or more particularly to the "big three" tobacco corporations in the United States: Philip Morris , Reynolds American and Lorillard...
has since been the object of such films as The Insider
The Insider (film)
The Insider is a 1999 film based on the true story of a 60 Minutes television series segment, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand. The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 in an altered form because of objections by CBS’ then-owner, Laurence Tisch, who...
(1999) and Thank You For Smoking
Thank You for Smoking
Thank You for Smoking is a 2005 black comedy film written and directed by Jason Reitman and starring Aaron Eckhart, based on the 1994 satirical novel of the same name by Christopher Buckley...
(2005).
See also
- History of commercial tobacco in the United StatesHistory of commercial tobacco in the United StatesThe history of commercial tobacco production in the United States dates back to the 17th century when the first commercial crop was planted. The industry originated in the production of tobacco for pipes and snuff. Different war efforts in the world created a shift in demand and production of...
- Smoking bans
- SnusSnusSnus , or Swedish snuff, is a moist powder tobacco product originated from a variant of dry snuff in the early 19th century in Sweden, consumed by placing it under the lip for extended periods of time. The precursor of snus, the dry form of snuff inhaled through the nose, was introduced in Europe...
- TobaccoTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
- Tobacco industry in ArgentinaTobacco industry in ArgentinaThe tobacco industry of Argentina produced 157,294 tonnes of tobacco in the 2003/2004 harvest, most of which was exported. The planted area was 831.75 km², of which 776 were harvested....
- Tobacco smokingTobacco smokingTobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
Further reading
- Glantz SA, Slade J, Bero LA, Hanauer P, Barnes, DE., The Cigarette Papers. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996
- Judith MacKay, The Tobacco Atlas, World Health Organization, 2002, ISBN 92-4-156209-9
- Mike A. Males, Smoked: Why Joe Camel Is Still Smiling, Common Courage Press, 1999, ISBN 1-56751-172-4
- Dorie Apollonio and Ruth E. Malone, "Marketing to the marginalised: tobacco industry targeting of the homeless and mentally ill" (2005). Tobacco Control. 14 (6), pp. 409–415