{"id":1772160,"date":"2022-12-12T06:30:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T11:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1772160"},"modified":"2022-12-12T09:18:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T14:18:58","slug":"beware-of-big-tobaccos-smokescreen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beware-of-big-tobaccos-smokescreen\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware of Big Tobacco\u2019s \u201cSmokescreen\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbeware-of-big-tobaccos-smokescreen%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1772160&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In September, Imperial Tobacco Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bat.com\/group\/sites\/UK__9D9KCY.nsf\/vwPagesWebLive\/DO52AD6H\">British American Tobacco<\/a>, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newswire.ca\/news-releases\/imperial-tobacco-canada-earns-2022-great-place-to-work-r-certification-804619278.html\">awarded the \u201cGreat Place to Work\u201d certification by the eponymously named organization<\/a>, one of the leading authorities on workplace culture.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, Imperial Tobacco Canada representatives have met with graduate students across the country, including at the <a href=\"https:\/\/clnx.utoronto.ca\/home\/slevents.htm?eventId=47253\">University of Toronto\u2019s Rotman School of Management<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:6975918251058835456?utm_source=share&#038;utm_medium=member_desktop\">York University\u2019s Schulich School of Business<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcgill.ca\/desautels\/career\/events\/jaclyn-fisher-career-day\/information-students\">McGill University\u2019s Desautels Faculty of Management<\/a>, urging them to \u201ccome join us as we build a better tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As of May, Imperial Tobacco Canada was <a href=\"https:\/\/engage.utoronto.ca\/site\/SPageServer?pagename=presidents_circle_member_listing#i\">listed as a Presidents\u2019 Circle Member on the University of Toronto website<\/a>, to acknowledge their \u201cvital financial support at the leadership level.\u201d Despite Big Tobacco\u2019s efforts to renormalize itself, we should all be very wary of engaging with the self-described <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bat.com\/group\/sites\/UK__9D9KCY.nsf\/vwPagesWebLive\/DO8GSFQT\">\u201cbold, fast, empowered\u201d<\/a> corporate culture.<\/p>\n<h2>Suppressing Incriminating Evidence<\/h2>\n<p>British American Tobacco and other big tobacco companies have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book\/9780520270169\/golden-holocaust\">known about the clear links between smoking and a host of diseases, including cancer,<\/a> since at least the 1950s. Despite this, they didn\u2019t disclose their internal damning evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, they aggressively undermined mounting scientific evidence of the public health risks associated with their products through a <a href=\"https:\/\/tobaccotactics.org\/\">sophisticated array of deceitful strategies and tactics<\/a>. These included funding dubious research, <a href=\"https:\/\/exposetobacco.org\/tobacco-industry-allies\/\">relying on allies that didn\u2019t disclose their links<\/a> to the industry, along with other forms of aggressive lobbying and marketing.<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward 70 years and tobacco remains the <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(22)01438-6\">leading cause of cancer worldwide today<\/a>. Epidemiologist Prabhat Jha <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/full\/10.1056\/NEJMra1308383\">estimates that one death results from every million cigarettes sold<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the first half of 2022 alone, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bat.com\/group\/sites\/uk__9d9kcy.nsf\/vwPagesWebLive\/DOCGKBGW\/$FILE\/medMDCGPNMG.pdf?openelement\">British American Tobacco sold 303.4 billion cigarettes globally<\/a>. Cigarettes kill between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tobaccofreekids.org\/problem\/toll-global\">one-half<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s12916-015-0281-z\">two-thirds<\/a> of their users and approximately <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/tobacco\">8 million people worldwide annually<\/a>. Big Tobacco is still alive and well, despite the colossal efforts of tobacco control leaders worldwide. This is partly the result of its renormalization strategy.<\/p>\n<h2>Big Tobacco\u2019s Rebrand<\/h2>\n<p>Big Tobacco companies hit proverbial rock bottom in the 1990s and early 2000s,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/tobacco-firms-to-pay-550m-over-smuggling-1.902510\">when they were facing several<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthlawcenter.org\/topics\/commercial-tobacco-control\/master-settlement-agreement\">major<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fightcancer.org\/news\/department-justice-lawsuit-against-tobacco-industry\">lawsuits<\/a> centered on the massive morbidity and mortality of cigarettes, the industry\u2019s extensive efforts to conceal and manipulate evidence, and its complicity in smuggling its own products around the world.<\/p>\n<p>Another significant blow to the industry was the adoption of the landmark <a href=\"https:\/\/fctc.who.int\/publications\/i\/item\/9241591013\">World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)<\/a> in 2005, dedicated to reducing tobacco demand and supply. Yet 20 years later, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/jul\/11\/how-big-tobacco-has-survived-death-and-taxes\">Big Tobacco companies continue to<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/u-s-tobacco-industry-rebounds-from-its-near-death-experience-1492968698\">increase their revenue and profit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Facing a potential decline post-WHO FCTC, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, and other Big Tobacco companies <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016%2FS0140-6736(15)60312-9\">sought to rebrand themselves from corporate pariahs to socially responsible companies<\/a> keen on partnering with governments, as well as international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and universities. British American Tobacco now claims to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bat.com\/group\/sites\/UK__9D9KCY.nsf\/vwPagesWebLive\/DOBNRDVZ\">behave ethically in all we do<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This rebranding has involved agreements with customs and law enforcement agencies on how to address the illicit trade in tobacco products, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.occrp.org\/en\/loosetobacco\/british-american-tobacco-fights-dirty-in-west-africa\">despite significant<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.occrp.org\/en\/big-trouble-at-big-tobacco\/\">growing evidence<\/a>\u00a0that the industry is <a href=\"https:\/\/tobaccotactics.org\/wiki\/tobacco-smuggling\/\">still complicit in it<\/a>. Big Tobacco\u2019s anti-illicit trade efforts have focused on <a href=\"https:\/\/tobaccocontrol.bmj.com\/content\/28\/2\/127?rss=1\">undermining policy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/bat-uncovered.exposetobacco.org\/\">disrupting competitors, and selling more of its own products<\/a>\u2014not tackling illicit trade per se.<\/p>\n<p>In Canada, Big Tobacco has used the specter of illicit trade <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/23311886.2017.1325054\">to argue against taxation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/content\/188\/14\/E340\">plain packaging<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/new-brunswick\/tobacco-menthol-ban-imperial-1.3511069\">menthol bans<\/a>, and other effective public health measures, including through third parties (such as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smoke-free.ca\/eng_home\/2016\/Cora-Slides-Annotated.pdf\">the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco<\/a>) and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lobbycanada.gc.ca\/app\/secure\/ocl\/lrs\/do\/advSrch?V_SEARCH.command=navigate&#038;time=1668615907155\">direct lobbying of government officials and parliamentarians<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Lying About Product Harms<\/h2>\n<p>Another central part of the tobacco industry\u2019s rebranding focuses on a \u201csmoke-free future\u201d through \u201crisk-reduced products,\u201d notably vaping. However, there are <a href=\"https:\/\/nceph.anu.edu.au\/files\/E-cigarettes%20health%20outcomes%20review%20summary%20brief%202022.pdf\">real health risks associated with vaping,<\/a> such as exposure to chemicals and an increased risk of lung and heart disease. Vaping has a <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.pmedr.2021.101374\">particular attraction among young people<\/a>, putting them more at risk for these diseases.<\/p>\n<p>The tobacco industry has a <a href=\"https:\/\/exposetobacco.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Unsmoke_Brief.pdf\">long track record<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/tobaccotactics.org\/wiki\/harm-reduction\/\">blatantly lying about the harms<\/a> caused by their products. They\u2019ve repeatedly marketed filtered cigarettes, flavored cigarettes, and other products as tobacco alternatives that present reduced risks to consumers\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/archive\/2017\/07\/cigarette-filters\/533379\/\">despite evidence later showing that this was false<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If anything, vaping products have created a rift within the public health community\u2014an all too familiar \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4337\/9781788970464.00010\">divide and conquer<\/a>\u201d strategy of the tobacco industry. Vaping may also serve as a distraction from the continued commercial focus of the industry on deadly cigarettes, which continues to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bat.com\/group\/sites\/uk__9d9kcy.nsf\/vwPagesWebLive\/DOCGKBGW\/$FILE\/medMDCGPNMG.pdf?openelement\">account for 84 percent of British American Tobacco\u2019s revenue<\/a> worldwide.<\/p>\n<h2>Seeing Through the Smokescreen<\/h2>\n<p>Given the \u201cfundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry\u2019s interests and public health policy interests,\u201d the WHO has <a href=\"https:\/\/fctc.who.int\/publications\/m\/item\/guidelines-for-implementation-of-article-5.3\">repeatedly warned state parties to the WHO FCTC\u2014<\/a>including Canada\u2014against tobacco industry engagement. Yet <a href=\"https:\/\/lobbycanada.gc.ca\/app\/secure\/ocl\/lrs\/do\/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=545786\">Canadian government officials<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lobbycanada.gc.ca\/app\/secure\/ocl\/lrs\/do\/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=545789\">routinely meet with<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lobbycanada.gc.ca\/app\/secure\/ocl\/lrs\/do\/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=500096\">tobacco industry representatives<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Experts in Canada consider the \u201crenormalization\u201d of tobacco as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RDILWGK0yEs&#038;ab_channel=OntarioTobaccoResearchUnit\">one of the great risks to progress in tobacco control<\/a>. We can\u2019t let ourselves be fooled by the tobacco industry or become indifferent in the face of their attempts to rehabilitate their image.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, we need to demonstrate leadership and make a commitment to hold the tobacco industry to account and educate the next generation on the Big Tobacco playbook. This means not forgetting that, through the smoke screen, the tobacco industry\u2019s goal remains advancing corporate profit at the expense of public health.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/194713\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/194713\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/benoit-gomis-588521\">Beno\u00eet Gomis<\/a>\u00a0is a sessional lecturer at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-toronto-1281\">University of Toronto<\/a>\u00a0in Canada, and <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/jillian-kohler-1393916\">Jillian Kohler<\/a>\u00a0is a professor in the faculty of pharmacy at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-toronto-1281\">University of Toronto.\u00a0<\/a>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-benoit-gomis\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/default-user.png\" alt=\"Beno\u00eet Gomis\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Beno\u00eet Gomis\u00a0is a sessional lecturer, at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the\u00a0University of Toronto\u00a0in Canada.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-jillian-kohler\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/default-user.png\" alt=\"Jillian Kohler\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jillian Kohler\u00a0is a professor in the faculty of pharmacy at the\u00a0University of Toronto in Canada. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In September, Imperial Tobacco Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of British American Tobacco, was awarded the \u201cGreat Place to Work\u201d certification by the eponymously named organization, one of the leading authorities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1899619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[8054,8055,5458,3819,8053],"class_list":["post-1772160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-smokescreen","tag-beware","tag-bongino","tag-report","tag-tobaccos"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1772160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1899619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1772160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1772160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1772160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}