The Tobacco Industry (TI): "Unlawful, deceptive
and lethal"
(US
Supreme Court ruling)
ASH wants the tobacco industry to take
the same level of responsibility other
businesses are expected to take for the safety and wellbeing of their
consumers and the public - especially young people.
Below are links to just some
of what they've
been doing instead.
WHO
ARE THEY? - the companies and
their associated entities and individuals
WHERE
ARE THEY? - their worldwide "Cigarette Citadels" mapped at
Stanford Uni
WHAT ARE THEY UP TO LATELY? -
monitoring the industry month by month
TOBACCO
INDUSTRY NEWS - latest on the industry's misdeeds
TOBACCO
ADVERTISING, PROMOTION & SPONSORSHIP (TAPS) - latest tricks
INTERFERENCE IN PUBLIC POLICY - and how to stop it
TOBACCO INDUSTRY MYTHS - spreading
misinformation
TOBACCO INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
- past history and some leading figures
TOBACCO
INDUSTRY DOCUMENTS - Legacy library, Uni of San Francisco
TAKING ACTION - resources and what you can do about
it
PACK AND PROMOTION WATCH
Plain
packaging - see the TI's history of opposition to ending their
packet advertising.
Big
Tobacco: a story of lies, fraud and deceit
Great comic strip by "Gus" for our partner organisation
the Australian Council on Smoking and Health. Tells the story of the
tobacco industry in a nutshell -
with some real quotes from industry leaders.
What's
a life worth? The truth about tobacco
Snappy 3min video from American Cancer Society and World Lung
Foundation
outlines the global tobacco burden and devious tactics
employed by the tobacco industry to addict new users - mostly children.
Find out what the industry makes per tobacco death.
WHO
ARE THEY?
Their products kill 5 million a
year - so who are these people? Not just the three big companies but
also their many stakeholders and supporters.
WHAT ARE THEY UP TO LATELY?
Here are our latest monthly reporting charts of TI
tactics in Australia - their misleading PR, political lobbying, intimidation,
front groups,
promotional ploys and more.
Please contact
us with any suggested additions or changes. Charts
are in pdf (from Sept 2011)
April
2013 (latest)
March
2013 February
2013 Dec
2012 - Jan 2013 November
2012
October
2012
September
2012
Aug
2012 July
2012 June
2012 May
2012 Apr
2012 Mar
2012
Feb
2012 Dec
2011-Jan 2012
Nov
2011 Oct
2011
Sept
2011
Aug
2011 July
2011 June
2011 May
2011 Apr
2011
Mar
2011 Feb
2011 Dec
2010 - Jan 2011 Nov 2010
Oct
2010 Sept
2010 Aug
2010
TOBACCO
INDUSTRY NEWS
Read the latest on the industry's many misdeeds,
recent court cases, reports,
internal documents and more. Some lowlights include:
-
misinforming governments and the public
- hiding health harm
- duping smokers with false suggestions
of "safer" products
- using marketing strategies known to be
attractive to children
- using front groups and associated
entities
TOBACCO
ADVERTISING, PROMOTION AND SPONSORSHIP
("TAPS")
As one door closes, the tobacco industry tries to get around or under it
- or forces another one wider open. See some of the tricky new marketing
and promotional manoeuvres by
tobacco companies to slip past those inconvenient advertising laws.
TOBACCO
ADVERTISING WATCH
Tobacco advertising is not dead - there
are many loopholes.
Use this checklist
to identify and monitor
tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
(TAPS) in your area. You can also share any new examples of TAPS by
uploading them onto this global Facebook
page
INTERFERENCE IN PUBLIC POLICY
More at
TOBACCO
INDUSTRY NEWS
The tobacco industry has a long history of interfering in public health policy -
blocking, weakening, delaying and undermining measures to reduce
smoking. WHO
report 2009
Under Article
5.3 of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),
Australia has an obligation at
all levels of government to end this interference.
WHO has chosen "Tobacco Industry
Interference" as the theme of World No Tobacco Day, May 31 2012. The
campaign will focus on the need to expose and counter the industry's brazen and increasingly aggressive attempts to undermine the
FCTC because of the serious danger these tactics pose to public health. WHO
site
Redefining
"proof"
2011 paper
in American Journal of Public Health, "Inventing Conflicts of
Interest: A History of Tobacco Industry Tactics", shows how, over
many years and with great care, tobacco industry PR experts have shaped
the way scientists, policymakers, media and the public, define scientific
"proof". Full
paper
Tobacco
tactics in low-income countries
2012 paper in
Cancer Causes and Control, "The
vector of the tobacco epidemic: tobacco industry practices in low and
middle-income countries". Reviews literature including industry
documents to show how tobacco companies use similar tactics in low-middle
income countries as they use in richer countries. Full
paper
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO STOP TOBACCO INDUSTRY INTERFERENCE?
Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
World Health Organisation treaty - see Article 5.3. Australia, among
hundreds of countries, has obligations to prevent tobacco industry interference
in policy-making. Implementation guide
and summary
FCTC
Article 5.3 toolkit
Factsheets for governments give step-by-step guidance on key
legislative and policy elements of preventing tobacco industry
interference in health policies under Article 5.3 of the Framework
Convention (above). From IUATLD (International Union Against Tuberculosis
and Lung Disease).
BUSTING
TOBACCO INDUSTRY MYTHS
Tobacco companies
and their allies continue to muddy the waters: undermining research,
covering up, and fostering myths about smoking, secondhand smoke and
popular measures to counter it. Links to useful sites that answer
these myths.
TOBACCO
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
History, some past and present leading figures.
TAKING
ACTION
Useful resources:
ASH
Australia's Countering
Tobacco Tactics: a guide to
identifying, monitoring and preventing tobacco industry interference
in public health
Step by step
guide (2010) to the industry's current tactics in Australia and how to expose
and counter them.
The
Golden Holocaust by
Robert Proctor (2012)
Says the blurb from Uni of California: The
cigarette is the deadliest artefact in the history of human
civilization.... also one of the most beguiling, thanks to more than
a century of manipulation at the hands of tobacco industry chemists....
Proctor draws on reams of formerly-secret industry documents to
explore how the cigarette came to be the most widely-used drug on the
planet.... paints a harrowing
picture of tobacco manufacturers conspiring to block the recognition of
tobacco-cancer hazards, even as they ensnare legions of scientists and
politicians in a web of denial.
Rebutting
the tobacco industry, winning smokefree air
Global Smokefree Partnership (2009) status
report on tobacco industry interference to hold back and undermine
public health legislation. Details the industry’s worldwide tactics of
fear and misinformation, vs the positive impact of governments,
organisations and individuals who are taking them on - with the backing
of the FCTC treaty.
What governments can do:
Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
World Health Organisation treaty to address all areas of tobacco
impacts. Australia, among
hundreds of countries, has obligations to prevent tobacco industry interference
in policy-making. See
implementation guide
and summary
FCTC
Article 5.3 toolkit
Good set of factsheets for governments, giving step-by-step guidance
on key legislative and policy elements of preventing tobacco industry
interference in health policies under Article 5.3 of the Framework
Convention (see above). From IUATLD (International Union Against
Tuberculosis and Lung Disease).
Tips
for taking tobacco action
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an ASH supporter (no cost)
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us financially - or with your time and effort…..
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