Global tobacco industry strategies to prevent regulation of second hand smoke

Abstract

Objective: The tobacco industry realized early on that it had to fight the accumulating evidence regarding the danger of second hand smoke and smoke free policies because both lead to a decrease in the social acceptability of smoking. Several studies were carried out independently of each other to assess the extent to which the tobacco industry has interfered in the evidence for and implementation of smoke free policies in different parts of the world. The studies identify industry strategies which have been used to successfully prevent or delay the regulation of second hand smoke around the globe.

Methods: Systematic research was carried out of the tobacco industry documents available on the internet made available as a result of litigation in the US. Standard, widely-accepted document search strategies were used to acquire reliable data within the tobacco collections in addition to secondary source materials (media reports, scientific papers, governmental reports etc.).

Results: The studies indicate that the tobacco industry has fought smoke free policies around the globe using various common strategies in addition to strategies that tune into regional distinctions. The tobacco industry formed regional environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) consultants programs in order to generate controversy on the issue of second hand smoke (SHS) in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Through its well-organized network of consultants, the tobacco industry avoided regulation of SHS in most of the world. This tobacco industry success frequently translates into a failure to curb the large health and economic burden of second hand smoke to the day.