Inform Me: INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE

The tobacco industry argues that it is engaged in a legal business. It wants to hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil about tobacco. And it has adopted some very powerful American cultural symbols by framing its business in terms of personal rights, freedoms and responsibilities. That’s why it is important to remember that tobacco education and prevention is not about “tobacco control.” We are not trying to control people who smoke, we are trying to control disease.

Choice
The tobacco companies say that consumption of their products is a matter of freedom of choice. But their products are addicting; their products control the lives of the people who use them, robbing them of their “freedom of choice.” The tobacco companies try to finesse this issue. The RJR Reynolds Tobacco Company website says, in part, “There is universal awareness of the conclusions of the Surgeon General, public health and medical officials that smoking causes serious diseases, including lung cancer and heart disease.” (Notice they say “universal awareness,” but not “agreement.”) The site also says, “Many smokers find that once they have started smoking cigarettes, they find it difficult to quit and some find it extremely difficult. In fact, many people believe that smoking is addictive.” Notice that they say, “many people believe,” not “scientific evidence has shown.”

Profits
It is important to remember that tobacco companies are just like any business: their prime responsibility is to maximize shareholder value. They market and promote their products just as any business would. In fact they spend about $8.4 billion a year in advertising alone. But historically they have spent vast sums of money trying also to subvert solid public health science that proves the deadly nature of their products. Why? It’s not complicated; they want to sell more tobacco in order to maximize shareholder value.

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