Scientists and the Tobacco Industry

World,฀rather฀than฀with฀issues฀such฀as฀safety฀belts฀or฀cigarettes฀and฀alcohol฀ [34] .฀If฀these฀ misrepresentations฀of฀the฀WHO฀are฀repeated฀internationally฀often฀enough,฀they฀come฀to฀be฀ accepted฀as฀facts. The฀questionable฀sponsoring฀of฀researchers฀at฀universities฀for฀studies฀sympathetic฀to฀ the฀tobacco฀industry฀should฀be฀reconsidered.฀Also฀in฀the฀USA,฀readers’฀letters฀on฀the฀low฀ or฀non-existent฀risks฀of฀passive฀smoking฀have,฀according฀to฀the฀journal฀Science,฀been฀paid฀ for฀with฀sums฀up฀to฀US฀10,000฀and฀evidenced฀on฀the฀payrolls฀of฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀ [35] .฀ The฀Munich฀medical฀journal฀Münchner฀Medizinische฀Wochenschrift฀carried,฀in฀a฀supple- ment,฀ a฀ study฀ on฀ passive฀ smoking฀ by฀ the฀ well-known฀ statistician฀ K.฀ Überla,฀ entitled฀ “Liberty฀and฀responsibility฀–฀discussed฀with฀special฀reference฀to฀passive฀smoking,”฀which฀ was฀funded฀by฀the฀Peutinger-Collegium,฀a฀body฀closely฀afiliated฀to฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀ [35] .฀This฀institute฀has,฀since฀its฀foundation,฀been฀run฀by฀G.฀B.฀Gori,฀an฀adviser฀to฀the฀ tobacco฀ industry,฀ who฀ also฀ acts฀ as฀ its฀ adviser฀ in฀ public.฀ In฀ the฀ years฀ 19921993,฀ Gori฀ received฀over฀US฀20,000฀for฀ive฀letters฀to฀scientiic฀journals฀J฀Natl฀Cancer฀Inst฀and฀ daily฀newspapers฀Wall฀Street฀Journal฀ [36–39] . Critical฀notice฀has฀also฀been฀drawn฀to฀the฀University฀of฀Nottingham,฀which฀opened฀an฀ International฀Centre฀for฀Corporate฀Social฀Responsibility฀with฀inancial฀support฀from฀BAT฀ [40] .฀This฀decision฀by฀the฀university฀aroused฀considerable฀protest฀and฀controversial฀discus- sion฀in฀scientiic฀quarters฀and฀raised฀the฀question฀as฀to฀whether฀an฀action฀of฀this฀kind฀was฀ ethically฀ and฀ morally฀ justiiable฀ in฀ view฀ of฀ the฀ major฀ damage฀ to฀ health฀ caused฀ by฀ the฀ tobacco฀industry’s฀products฀ [41,฀42] .฀It฀ought฀to฀be฀impossible฀for฀physicians฀to฀conduct฀ research฀work฀with฀the฀aid฀of฀subsidies฀from฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀see฀Sect.฀ 14.1

14.4 “Subsidised” Tobacco Growing

The฀ cultivation฀ of฀ tobacco฀ as฀ a฀ lucrative฀ business฀ for฀ farmers฀ is฀ shown฀ by฀ a฀ US฀ list฀฀ of฀income฀that฀can฀be฀obtained฀by฀the฀cultivation฀of฀various฀agricultural฀products฀see฀฀ Fig.฀ 14.1 ฀ [12] . The฀world’s฀best฀tobaccos฀are฀grown฀outside฀of฀Europe;฀in฀the฀European฀Union,฀only฀ Greece฀3฀share฀is฀able฀to฀produce฀tobacco฀of฀superior฀quality฀ [43] .฀The฀EU฀subsidises฀ the฀ tobacco฀ industry฀ to฀ the฀ tune฀ of฀ 1฀ billion฀ annually,฀ including฀ 25.6฀ million฀ for฀ the฀ German฀tobacco฀growers฀ [44] .฀In฀1997,฀European฀tobacco฀farmers฀earned฀approximately฀ 4,090฀ per฀ hectare,฀ a฀ price฀ which฀ is฀ below฀ the฀ average฀ income฀ for฀ European฀ farmers.฀ However,฀as฀this฀production฀is฀subsidised,฀it฀nevertheless฀continues.฀In฀the฀Greek฀part฀of฀ Macedonia,฀the฀farmers฀used฀to฀grow฀wheat,฀but฀because฀of฀the฀subsidies฀they฀switched฀to฀ tobacco,฀especially฀as฀the฀annual฀subsidies฀in฀Greece฀rose,฀between฀1986฀and฀1995,฀to฀409฀ million฀ [43] ,฀i.e.฀approximately฀ive฀times฀the฀market฀value.฀The฀costs฀of฀smoking฀to฀the฀ national฀economy฀health฀care,฀social฀security,฀illness-related฀loss฀of฀production,฀on฀the฀ other฀hand,฀are฀about฀three฀times฀higher฀than฀the฀proit฀earned฀from฀tobacco฀growing฀ [43] . Altogether,฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀employs฀some฀200,000฀people฀in฀the฀EU,฀whereby฀the฀ tobacco฀processing฀plants฀are฀also฀located฀in฀rural฀regions฀and฀support฀the฀economy฀there.฀ On฀the฀other฀hand,฀the฀value฀of฀the฀harvested฀tobacco฀only฀amounts฀to฀about฀20฀of฀the฀ subsidies฀paid฀for฀it฀ [45] ฀–฀a฀state฀of฀affairs฀which฀cannot฀be฀tolerated฀indeinitely. If฀these฀jobs฀were฀“destroyed”฀through฀abolition฀of฀the฀subsidies,฀the฀result฀would฀be฀ high฀social฀costs.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀however,฀the฀EU฀tobacco฀is฀either฀exported฀as฀“infe- rior”฀quality฀or฀is฀only฀used฀to฀make฀up฀bulk.฀The฀EU฀and฀especially฀Germany฀imports฀ 80฀of฀the฀tobacco฀it฀needs฀for฀production.฀In฀other฀words,฀a฀product฀is฀having฀to฀be฀sub- sidised฀which฀cannot฀even฀be฀subsequently฀used฀properly.฀The฀only฀solution฀to฀this฀prob- lem฀would฀be • ฀ For฀the฀employees฀to฀be฀gradually฀moved฀to฀other฀jobs • ฀ To฀pay฀compensation฀to฀the฀tobacco฀growers฀for฀them฀to฀give฀up฀cultivation฀and฀so฀ reduce฀the฀amount฀of฀land฀under฀production฀purchase฀of฀quotas;฀see฀also฀EEC฀Directive฀ No.฀2,07992 • ฀ To฀intensify฀controls฀on฀the฀amount฀of฀land฀under฀cultivation฀so฀as฀to฀ensure฀compliance฀ with฀EC฀laws The฀goal฀of฀achieving฀quality฀improvements฀in฀the฀tobacco฀grown฀“non-harmful”฀tobacco฀ qualities฀is฀likely฀to฀be฀a฀long฀way฀in฀the฀future฀ [45] .฀At฀best,฀tobacco฀plants฀should฀be฀used฀ to฀extract฀the฀nicotine฀for฀medicinal฀purposes.฀As฀other฀branches฀of฀industry฀in฀the฀EU฀have฀ also฀had฀to฀be฀restructured,฀it฀should฀be฀possible฀for฀the฀politicians฀to฀develop฀practicable฀ concepts฀in฀this฀ield.฀The฀WHO฀has,฀however,฀stated,฀that฀the฀claimed฀effects฀on฀employ- ment฀are฀exaggerated฀and฀that฀it฀is฀prepared฀to฀initiate฀aid฀measures฀for฀tobacco฀growers฀in฀ poor฀countries;฀in฀other฀words,฀there฀should฀be฀no฀obstacles฀to฀restructuring฀ [46] . Paradoxically,฀world฀food฀aid฀programmes฀are฀supporting฀tobacco฀growing฀in฀various฀ countries฀with฀inancial฀donations,฀e.g.฀Ghana.฀The฀arguments฀used฀to฀justify฀this฀run฀more฀ 500 Tobacco Sweet potatoes Peanuts Cotton Corn Soybeans Hay Wheat 136 190 228 306 478 760 1,627 1,000 1,500 US- per acre [thousands] 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 4,191 Fig. 14.1 ฀฀฀Agricultural฀value฀of฀selected฀crop฀products฀for฀the฀year฀1995฀ [12] .฀Tobacco฀ranked฀ seventh฀in฀terms฀of฀frequency฀throughout฀the฀USA,฀behind฀the฀crops฀shown฀above.฀Tobacco฀ earned฀income฀of฀US฀2.3฀billion฀in฀the฀USA฀ [12]