Plain (unbranded) packaging for cigarettes is at the top of the tobacco control agenda in both Australia and Europe. The evidence suggests that it will benefit public health by decreasing the appeal of tobacco products and increasing the power of the health warning. The tobacco industry instead argues that plain packaging would make it easier to counterfeit cigarettes, which would both confuse ...

A handful of empirical studies have related changes in youth smoking to popular laws that penalise tobacco possession, use, and purchase (PUP). In this paper, we review the literature and outline reasons why PUP laws may be unlikely to reduce youth smoking significantly at the population level. In theoretical terms, we argue that PUP laws lack important features required for punishment to be ef...

Among the tobacco industries in Europe, the one in the Czech Republic has the poorest controls. The collapse of communism in 1989 allowed many changes in the different markets. A big change occurred in the tobacco industry of Czech Republic as well. During the communist era it was impossible for international companies to enter. However, after the collapse, tobacco companies abused this opportu...

In 1983 and 1986, the International Advertising Association (IAA) published an original version and then a revision of a report entitled "Tobacco Advertising Bans and Consumption in 16 Countries," which were edited by J J Boddewyn, a marketing professor. The reports concluded that tobacco advertising bans have not been accompanied by any significant reduction in tobacco consumption. Opponents o...

As per China's ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), it should have implemented effective packaging and labelling measures prior to 9 January 2009 and enacted a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship prior to 9 January 2011. In addition, universal protection against secondhand tobacco smoke should have been implemented before 9 ...

BACKGROUND The tobacco industry uses various strategies to promote itself as a socially responsible, ethical industry, including establishing links with health institutions and medical research. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships between the tobacco industry and Canadian faculties of medicine, specifically research funding and donations from tobacco industry sources, an...

Efforts to control environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) could be assisted if the tobacco control movement gave greater emphasis to the issue of individual rights. Benefits that may accrue from the promotion of a clear individual rights perspective in tobacco control include adding coherence to the tobacco control advocacy agenda and winning support from those who may have been concerned about loss...

Illicit trade in tobacco products presents a threat to public health because it undermines the use of tax and price policies, which are among the most effective mechanisms for reducing tobacco consumption. Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are in the final stages of negotiating a protocol aimed at strengthening international cooperation in the fight against illic...

OBJECTIVES To identify key themes related to tobacco advertising and promotion in testimony provided by tobacco industry-affiliated witnesses in tobacco litigation, and to present countervailing evidence and arguments. METHODS Themes in industry testimony were identified by review of transcripts of testimony in the Tobacco Deposition and Trial Testimony Archive (http://tobaccodocuments.org/da...

The internal tobacco industry documents have also been used to study tobacco industry operations outside the United States. The scope of the documents on a country outside the US is decided mainly by the extent to which documents and reports were transmitted from the abroad offices of the US tobacco companies to headquarters. We explored whether the material from a private archive of a Finnish ...