10.12 The tobacco industry's revised stance on health issues
Show / hide chapter menu
Corporate admission that smoking causes ill health and death is at the heart of the tobacco industry's metamorphosis into socially responsible corporate citizens.
Of course, it was not always so. From the earliest days the tobacco industry robustly countered any claims that smoking caused disease. Discovery of internal tobacco industry documents in the wake of several US court cases in the late 1990s (discussed in Section 10.10 above) proved what health advocates had long suspected—that the tobacco industry was indeed aware that their product was a major cause of death and disease, and that several decades had been spent deliberately colluding in covering up, denying, confusing and questioning the issues of smoking and health.166 Even well into the 1990s, spokespeople for the tobacco industry in Australia denied that tobacco use was a cause of disease, citing, for example, a perceived lack of causal proof, and the vagaries of genetics.[24] It is highly probable that this legacy of denial, maintained consistently and persuasively for more than half a century, still has residual effects on smokers today.167
10.12.1 Smoking, health and addiction
A visit to the websites of PMI,5 BATA19 and ITG3 provides the reader with a number of carefully crafted statements about the effects of tobacco on health. Perhaps reflecting the litigation concerns of a company with strong US connections, PMI appears boldly to states its acceptance of the views of major health authorities with the statement 'Smoking is dangerous and addictive.'5 BATA states that 'We believe that with smoking comes real risks of serious diseases such as lung cancer, respiratory disease and heart disease, and for many people, smoking is difficult to quit.' Reading a little further into their explanation, BATA is unable to resist observing that 'science has not to date been able to identify biological mechanisms which can explain with certainty the statistical findings linking smoking and certain diseases, nor has science to date been able to clarify the role of particular smoke constituents in these disease processes,' although the company explains that it is not mentioning these limitations on science in order to cast doubt that smoking causes disease.19
Far less forthcoming, ITG makes no overarching statement about smoking and health, although it does acknowledge that 'smoking can be characterised as addictive as the term is commonly used today.' The company observes that it operates in a controversial industry because of the health concerns associated with tobacco and smoking, and notes that public health authorities have concluded that smoking is a cause of lung cancer and other diseases in smokers (based on 'statistics' and 'questionnaire-based observations'). Without commenting on the quality of the science, the company declares that it does not propose to challenge mainstream health messages to the public.3
It can safely be assumed that all of the above statements have been thoroughly vetted by industry lawyers to ensure that they will adequately serve the companies' needs in the event of litigation. Meanwhile, it has been observed by some commentators that in reality, the tobacco companies have not made substantial strides towards a consensus with public health interests on smoking and health. In her analysis of evolving language on tobacco, health and addictiveness on PM's website, Friedman comments that PM's wording in fact concedes little and is deliberately constructed to leave open options for PM's defence in the event of litigation.159 Henningfield et al have studied courtroom testimony and other related statements made by tobacco companies regarding the addictiveness of tobacco.168 This report concludes that industry strategy has evolved to redefine and trivialise the term 'addiction,' likening nicotine to substances such as caffeine and chocolate but distinguishing it from hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
10.12.2 Second-hand smoke
As with active smoking, each of the tobacco companies operating in Australia addresses second-hand smoke (SHS) on their websites in different, but equally meticulously constructed statements. Philip Morris International's website offers a list of health consequences declared by 'public health officials' to be caused by SHS, and recommends that the public should be guided by these conclusions (PMI itself neither confirming nor denying any connection between SHS and disease). PMI also accepts that it is reasonable to restrict smoking in public places on health grounds.5 Less acquiescent, BATA cites conclusions by WHO and the NH&MRC on SHS, but goes on to cast doubt on the strength of the epidemiological research upon which these conclusions are based. BATA does not comment on smoking bans, but recommends that smokers exercise courtesy, and avoid exposing infants and children to their smoke.19
Imperial Tobacco takes a different tack, acknowledging that SHS can be an annoyance, but declaring that 'it is our view that the scientific evidence, taken as a whole, is insufficient to establish that other people's tobacco smoke is a cause of any disease,' and asserting that 'bans on smoking in public places are disproportionate and unnecessary.' Imperial reiterates the industry's standard arguments from earlier decades that issues regarding SHS can be resolved through common sense, courtesy, improved ventilation, and the introduction of smokefree areas in the workplace, restaurants and other public places.3
In Australia and internationally, the tobacco industry continues to lobby against measures to protect non-smokers from tobacco smoke, to dispute and undermine findings by medical and health bodies169-171 and to fund, directly and indirectly,172-174 research to serve its own ends. Some of these issues are discussed in greater detail in the following sections.
[24] A collection of public statements made by tobacco industry executives and officers from the Tobacco Institute of Australia dismissing the impact of smoking on health is available at: http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/site/supersite/resources/docs/gallery_leaders.htm and http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu.au/site/supersite/resources/docs/diary_of_denial.htm
Copyright © 2010 The Cancer Council. All rights reserved.