OBJECTIVE To describe how the tobacco industry developed a network of consultants to promote ventilation as a "solution" to secondhand smoke (SHS) in the USA. METHODS Analysis of previously secret tobacco industry documents. RESULTS As with its other strategies to undermine the passage of clean indoor legislation and regulations, the tobacco industry used consultants who represented themsel...

BACKGROUND The tobacco industry has formed regional environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) consultants programs in order to generate controversy on the issue of secondhand smoke (SHS) in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Only those countries in which the industry foresaw SHS restrictions were included. This paper describes the European and Asian components of the tobacco industry's worldwide ETS consu...

OBJECTIVES To explore the history of transnational tobacco companies' use of the term, approach to and perceived benefits of 'harm reduction'. METHODS Analysis of internal tobacco industry documents, contemporary tobacco industry literature and 6 semistructured interviews. RESULTS The 2001 Institute of Medicine report on tobacco harm reduction appears to have been pivotal in shaping industr...

BACKGROUND Cigarette butt litter is a potential target of tobacco control. In addition to its toxicity and non-biodegradability, it can justify environmental regulation and policies that raise the price of tobacco and further denormalise its use. This paper examines how the tobacco industry has managed the cigarette butt litter issue and how the issue has been covered in the media. METHODS We...

It is easy to understand the BMJ’s policy on refusing research funded by the tobacco industry, given the harm that the industry does. However, a blanket policy of rejecting all research from the tobacco industry makes me uncomfortable. This policy is based on nothing other than an ad hominem fallacy. Much research funded by the tobacco industry is flawed and unworthy of publication in a prestig...

OBJECTIVE To demonstrate that Philip Morris and British American Tobacco Company attempted to initiate a wide ranging campaign to undermine the success of the 8th World Conference on Tobacco or Health held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1992. DATA SOURCES Publicly available tobacco industry documents housed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Guilford, UK; on-line document websites; and telephone...

CONTEXT In 1954 the tobacco industry paid to publish the "Frank Statement to Cigarette Smokers" in hundreds of U.S. newspapers. It stated that the public's health was the industry's concern above all others and promised a variety of good-faith changes. What followed were decades of deceit and actions that cost millions of lives. In the hope that the food history will be written differently, thi...

Often tobacco industry activities may appear as public good activities, while actually inconspicuously working to undermine tobacco control efforts. It is important to be wary of any use of logos or mascots as well as secondary products used to promote smoking (e.g. logos on sports equipment). Although sponsorships may appear positive, it may work to change perceptions of tobacco use or the tob...

Rates of tobacco use among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia have been estimated as high as 80%. A variety of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the high rate of tobacco use among this vulnerable group. This study examined the tobacco industry's efforts to establish and promulgate beliefs about schizophrenic individuals' need to smoke and the hazards of quitting. The current study ...

Often tobacco industry activities may appear as public good activities, while actually inconspicuously working to undermine tobacco control efforts. It is important to be wary of any use of logos or mascots as well as secondary products used to promote smoking (e.g. logos on sports equipment). Although sponsorships may appear positive, it may work to change perceptions of tobacco use or the tob...