World War Tobacco

www.ozy.com [OZY]() Your World. Bold & Bright [Daily Dose]( Sponsored by [Cariuma]( The newsletter to fuel — and thrill — your mind. Read for deep dives into the unmissable ideas and topics shaping our world. Aug 02, 2022 Today Cigarettes can kill. But they’re also big money — and hard to kick if you’re hooked. Exploring everything from generational bans to sin taxes, today’s Daily Dose examines what works and what will most likely go up in smoke. — with reporting by Niko Vorobyov from Beirut [All We Think About Is…Going Green]( [Cariuma]( Being eco-friendly has never been easier. Say hi to your new [favorite sneaker]( – made from organic cotton and natural rubber. Stylish, comfortable, timeless, and consciously made. You can’t go wrong. Shop now with code OZY20 to snag [20% OFF]( your purchase!. This special offer is just for OZY readers. [LET’S GO GREEN]( Smoking out cigarettes Age of nonsmokers Nobody who is currently under age 15 will ever be able to buy cigarettes legally in New Zealand, thanks to a new government measure [enacted](last December that will raise the legal age limit every year to prevent new generations from getting hooked on lung darts. Weeks later, [Malaysia]( saw a similar proposal, which also included a plan to ban vapes. Generational bans “In itself, raising the legal minimum age is not phasing out smoking … it is only increasing the legal minimum age,” Gianna Gayle Amul, a Singapore-based public health researcher, said to OZY. But the moves in New Zealand and Malaysia represent generational tobacco bans because they “plan to set a date of birth after which individuals would be permanently banned from buying tobacco products,” she explained. That date is Jan. 1, 2009, in New Zealand and Jan. 1, 2005, in Malaysia. And while [19 states]( in America have now lifted the ban on marijuana, the Food and Drug Administration has [demanded]( all Juul electronic cigarettes be removed from the shelves. No smoke without fire This accelerating global campaign against tobacco comes after decades of mounting evidence of its dangerous — even deadly — effects. Smoking wreaks havoc on the heart and lungs, can cause cancer and hurts unborn babies by cutting off their oxygen supply. The body can repair itself but it takes time — the more you smoke, the harder it gets. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), smoking tobacco directly claims over [seven million]( lives worldwide each year, and another million or so from secondhand smoke. [Nice (Kicks)]( [Cariuma]( Loved by surfers and skateboarders alike, [Cariuma]( is elevating the game by reimagining the classic sneaker. Just like these skills come (organically) for some, so do these shoes – made with organic cotton, natural rubber, vegan insoles, and recycled plastics. Practical and sustainably sourced? Now, that’s rad! Grab them while they’re hot with your exclusive [20% off]( discount code: OZY20.This special offer is just for OZY readers. [SHOP NOW]( History of tobacco control Early days Burnt tobacco seeds at the [Wishbone]( archaeological site in Utah suggest that Native Americans have been smoking for 12,000 years. But unlike Marlboro’s mass-produced cancer sticks today, Native Americans used tobacco only sparingly — in their peace [pipes]( and rituals. European merchants commercialized it in the [Triangle Trade](, sailing across the Atlantic with African slaves before returning to the Old World with cotton, sugar and tobacco. The Russian Orthodox Church considered smoking [sinful]( and, in the 17th century, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovitch ordered persons caught with tobacco tortured until they revealed their suppliers. But it wasn’t until the 20th century that doctors realized the true dangers of smoking. Fight for the narrative The first modern anti-smoking campaign was launched, interestingly enough, by the [Nazis](, who erected billboards, banned public smoking, cut cigarette rations and funded health research, while obviously pinning this malady on the Jews. But the best efforts of the Third Reich were defeated along with their army, and America even sent cigarettes to Germany as part of the [Marshall Plan](. In the 20th century, Big Tobacco grew rich and brazen enough to use [such slogans as](, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette." It promoted smoking as a sign of women’s emancipation (since the 1950s there’s been a [600%](rise in women's deaths from lung cancer), while marketing it to teenagers as being edgy and cool. The pushback After the U.S. surgeon general report officially [recognized]( the dangers of smoking in the 1960s, all cigarette packs had to carry warning labels, and activists began pushing for smoke-free workspaces, while advertising was gradually pushed out of public view. In the U.K., smoking rates have [fallen]( dramatically since the 1970s, thanks to warning labels, a crackdown on advertising, and raising the minimum age to 18. Using public relations firms, the powerful tobacco lobby has fought back, insisting that the research on a link between smoking and cancer was inconclusive, and intimidating [whistleblowers.]( New markets As tobacco’s customer base in Western countries shrank, the industry shifted its focus to places like China, India and Indonesia, three countries that account for half of the world’s smokers. “Indonesia has one of the weakest tobacco control policies in Southeast Asia, being a non-signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” said Gayle Amul. But despite being such a harmful, addictive substance, tobacco has mostly escaped the dragnet of the war on drugs … mostly. Bans and bootleggers ‘Sin tax’ Though taxes are an [effective]( way to discourage smoking, they have spawned a massive contraband economy in which cigarettes from low-tax states or countries are smuggled across borders and sold for big profits where prices are higher. By 2014, [nearly half](of all smokes in New York City came from low-tax states, such as Virginia. It’s a scheme profitable enough to attract [al-Qaida]( terrorists and the [Mafia](. The tobacco industry [overproduces]( their merchandise for dodgy distributors to smuggle across state lines and national borders. But tax-dodging is a gray market, unlike the wholly illicit ones of cocaine and methamphetamine. However, what if tobacco were completely illegal? Mixed results [Bhutan]( banned tobacco in 2010, only for a smuggling route to open up from India. As a result, the tiny Himalayan kingdom maintained the highest smoking rate in South Asia. Prohibition was lifted last year, when it became apparent that smugglers were a main source of COVID-19. [South Africa]( forbade tobacco for five months in 2020 to prevent the respiratory problems associated with the pandemic, but 93% of smokers kept buying contraband cigarettes smuggled from Zimbabwe. Although South Africa fenced off the border to prevent virus carriers sneaking through, smugglers kept getting in. Gayle Amul notes that black markets exist even in countries where tobacco is legal, and blames the tobacco industry for “inflating the magnitude of illicit tobacco trade in countries where more stringent control measures are being proposed.” Dictatorial ‘success’ So what would it take to truly stamp out smoking? Turkmenistan’s authoritarian regime first forbade smoking from all public places and then later withdrew all tobacco from sale, effectively outlawing smoking (visitors from abroad can still bring a couple of packs to consume in private). Contraband cigarettes are [burned]( atop pyres alongside narcotics, and public smokers risk [arrest.]( Turkmenistan now has one of the [lowest](smoking rates in the world — but it’s a severely [repressive]( regime whose political critics are routinely tortured, which is also bad for your health. Other dangers of bans Prohibition also risks creating markets that aren’t subject to the same rules and regulations as legit products. Parts of the world where alcohol is banned suffer regular moonshine [poisonings](. Similarly, [fentanyl]( contamination in the U.S. has killed many drug users who thought they were taking heroin. Bootleggers already produce [counterfeit](cigarettes using cheap, low-quality materials with high levels of nicotine and toxic contaminants, such as lead. Those who continue lighting up may be in an even more perilous position than before. “That’s always possible, and already happens to some extent with counterfeit cigarettes,” Steve Rolles, a policy analyst at the British drug reform organization, [Transform](, told OZY. “But I suspect it would be more of a gray market of smuggled goods — less problematic than illegal drugs more generally.” Rolles thinks the market will wither away over the next couple of generations, especially in the developed world. But his ideal route to getting there isn’t through bans. [TAKE OUR POLL]( WATCH MICHAEL BARBARO on [The Carlos Watson Show](! Harm reduction Is vaping a solution? “The moral calculus on this is complicated by vaping and other non-smoked nicotine products,” Rolles said. By prohibiting access only to one particularly harmful form of nicotine — smokable tobacco — authorities would allow the culture to change gradually. This approach is based on the principle of harm reduction: If someone doesn’t want to stop taking drugs, the best you can do is make it as safe for them as possible. Most experts agree [vaping is substantially less harmful]( than cigarettes. Studies show e-cigarettes are more effective at helping smokers quit than nicotine replacement medication. There’s not much evidence for vaping as a “gateway drug” to cigarettes either. In one study, less than 1% of vapers went on to become smokers. Also considered [healthier]( than cigarettes is snus, a small packet of tobacco which you hold in your mouth, absorbing the nicotine through your gums. Snus is legal in Sweden, which has Europe’s lowest smoking rate. Saying no to safer options And yet many world leaders and the WHO seem dead set against these options. In Europe, snus can be purchased lawfully only in Norway and Sweden, leaving a flourishing smuggling business across Finland’s 310 mile-long western border, where authorities [estimate]( they intercept only 10% of the shipments. If Malaysia’s proposal goes through, it will phase out vapes along with cigarettes. Vapes have already been taken out of circulation in [Mexico](, and banned outright in the Philippines, where former President Rodrigo Duterte [said]( smokers “should be exterminated from the face of the earth.” The future Rolles said he finds the targeting of vaping, snus and other safer options “bewildering and inexplicable,” given that “the evidence supporting vaping as a form of harm reduction seems so utterly overwhelming.” Millions, he said, could die as a result of such bans. Rolles said that he suspects the “deep-rooted” hostility toward smoking and Big Tobacco among sections of policy makers is the reason for this categorical opposition. He understands that sentiment toward the tobacco industry but argues it’s counterproductive from a public health perspective. “Smoking will always be around, even if the market continues to contract,” he said. “Sensible regulation is almost always better than prohibition.” [TAKE OUR POLL]( Community Corner What are your thoughts on the efficacy of the war on tobacco? Share your thoughts with us at OzyCommunity@Ozy.com. ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives, and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. [www.ozy.com]( / #OZY Curiosity. Enthusiasm. Action. That’s OZY! [TV]( | [PODCASTS]( | [NEWS]( | [FESTIVALS]( A Modern Media Company OZY Media, 800 West El Camino Mountain View, California 94040 This email was sent to {EMAIL} [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Read Online](