OBJECTIVE The tobacco industry spends large sums lobbying the European Union (EU) institutions, yet whether such lobbying significantly affects tobacco policy is not well understood. We used novel quantitative text mining techniques to evaluate the impact of industry pressure on the contested EU Tobacco Products Directive revision. DESIGN Policy positions of 18 stakeholders including the toba...

OBJECTIVE To establish the trends in prevalence, and correlates, of roll-your-own (RYO) use in Canada, USA, UK and Australia, 2002-2008. METHODS Participants were 19,456 cigarette smokers interviewed during the longitudinal International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four-Country Survey in Canada, USA, UK, and Australia. RESULTS "Predominant" RYO use (i.e., >50% of cigarettes smoked) increased sign...

OBJECTIVE To describe the nature and timing of, and population exposure to, Philip Morris USA's three explicit corporate image television advertising campaigns and explore the motivations behind each campaign. METHODS Analysis of television ratings from the largest 75 media markets in the United States, which measure the reach and frequency of population exposure to advertising; copies of all...

BACKGROUND Although most countries now have at least some restrictions on tobacco marketing, the tobacco industry meet these restrictions by re-allocating expenditure to unregulated channels, such as at point-of-purchase. METHODS Longitudinal data from 10 Canadian provinces in the International Tobacco Control Survey was analysed to examine adult smokers' support for a ban on tobacco advertis...

Since the launch of Tobacco Control 20 years ago, there have been several changes in the tobacco industry worldwide. The goal of this commentary is to present some of the keys changes of the past two decades. This time is marked by mergers and acquisitions that led to the existence, today, of four major transnational tobacco companies: Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japa...

Manfred Neuberger a John Britton in his excellent report (May 4, p 1588)1 concludes that the effect of commercial vested interests remains a major barrier to progress in Europe, but believes that all European countries now prohibit sale or distribution of tobacco to people younger than 18 years. Unfortunately this is not correct. Some countries (Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Macedonia, the Neth...

BACKGROUND Adolescents who live in tobacco producing regions may not respond favourably to anti-industry ads. OBJECTIVE To examine whether state level involvement in tobacco production appears to limit the effectiveness of anti-industry ads to prevent tobacco use among adolescents in the USA. DESIGN Time trend analyses were done using repeated cross sectional data from six waves of the Lega...

The tactics used by the tobacco industry to resist government regulation of its products include conducting public relations campaigns, buying scientific and other expertise to create controversy about established facts, funding political parties, hiring lobbyists to influence policy, using front groups and allied industries to oppose tobacco control measures, pre-empting strong legislation by ...

Although internet use continues to increase and e-commerce sales are expected to exceed US$1 trillion by the end of 2001, there have been few assessments in the literature regarding the implications of this medium for tobacco control efforts. This commentary explores the challenges that the internet may pose to the key components of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy, and pinpoints potent...

In May 2016, the Australian Government announced that it would implement annual increases in tobacco excise of 12.5% up to and including 2020, raising the cost of a pack of cigarettes to $A40. This increase will lead to Australia having one of the highest prices of cigarettes in the world. Increasing the cost of tobacco is considered by public health experts to be one of the most effective stra...