Tobacco Research in the Twentieth Century

properties฀in฀a฀comprehensive฀monograph฀that฀is฀still฀available฀ [22] .฀He฀was฀also฀one฀of฀ the฀irst฀clinicians฀to฀publicise฀the฀connection฀between฀smoking฀and฀the฀development฀of฀ bronchial฀carcinoma฀in฀his฀numerous฀lectures,฀a฀state฀that฀he฀described฀in฀detail฀in฀his฀ book.฀His฀demands฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀book฀for฀stemming฀the฀consumption฀of฀tobacco฀are฀ understandable฀even฀today,฀with฀one฀exception฀cultivation฀of฀low-nicotine฀tobacco฀variet- ies฀Table฀ 1.2 .฀Because฀of฀the฀Second฀World฀War,฀German฀research฀into฀the฀causal฀rela- tionship฀between฀smoking฀and฀the฀development฀of฀bronchial฀carcinoma฀ [36–40] ฀could฀not฀ be฀shared฀with฀the฀international฀scientiic฀฀community,฀and฀was฀also฀ignored฀after฀the฀end฀ of฀the฀war.฀The฀text฀of฀the฀article฀by฀Schairer฀and฀Schöninger฀was฀not฀published฀in฀English฀ translation฀until฀2001฀when฀it฀appeared฀in฀the฀International฀Journal฀of฀Epidemiology฀ [41] ,฀ together฀with฀several฀commentaries฀ [42,฀43] . All฀ countries,฀ irrespective฀ of฀ the฀ prevailing฀ form฀ of฀ government,฀ “encouraged฀ and฀ promoted฀in฀every฀conceivable฀way฀their฀people’s฀passion฀for฀smoking฀simply฀for฀the฀ sake฀of฀the฀national฀purse”฀ [7] .฀Following฀the฀failure฀of฀the฀bans฀on฀smoking฀in฀the฀USA฀ in฀the฀1920s,฀with฀Kansas฀the฀last฀state฀to฀lift฀such฀prohibition฀in฀1927,฀the฀European฀ countries฀never฀seriously฀considered฀similar฀regulations;฀in฀the฀view฀of฀those฀in฀power,฀ such฀action฀might฀have฀an฀adverse฀if฀not฀disastrous฀effect฀on฀the฀economic฀and฀political฀ situation.฀ After฀ the฀ Second฀ World฀ War฀ this฀ attitude฀ continued,฀ with฀ cigarettes฀ being฀ rationed฀on฀“stamps”฀for฀the฀many฀smokers฀in฀Germany฀see฀ Chap.฀14 .฀In฀the฀immediate฀ post-war฀period,฀the฀Americans฀offered฀aid฀in฀the฀form฀of฀the฀Marshall฀Plan,฀but฀at฀the฀ same฀time฀they฀gave฀the฀Germans฀97,000฀tons฀of฀tobacco฀ [44] ฀–฀a฀gift฀with฀immense฀ potential฀for฀harm. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 10 20 30 40 Frequency Age [years] Boys Girls 50 60 70 Fig. 1.7 ฀฀฀Age฀distribution฀ for฀cigarette฀consumption฀ among฀1,058฀students฀ attending฀higher฀educational฀ establishments฀data฀from฀a฀ 1933฀survey฀ [22] Ban฀on฀tobacco฀consumption฀for฀young฀people฀below฀the฀age฀of฀18 Strong฀warnings฀against฀tobacco฀consumption฀by฀women Cultivation฀of฀nicotine-free฀or฀low-nicotine฀tobacco฀for฀“less฀toxic฀smoking” Protection฀of฀non-smokers Creation฀of฀counselling฀centres฀for฀tobacco฀addicts฀in฀major฀cities Government-sponsored฀information฀campaign Government฀support฀for฀the฀“German฀League฀to฀Combat฀the฀Dangers฀of฀Tobacco”฀funded฀by฀ revenue฀raised฀from฀tobacco฀duty Table 1.2 ฀฀฀Lickint’s฀demands฀in฀1939฀for฀the฀regulation฀of฀tobacco฀consumption฀[21]

1.9 Concluding Remarks

• ฀ As฀with฀other฀luxury฀commodities฀opium,฀alcohol,฀tobacco฀has฀developed฀over฀the฀ course฀of฀500฀years฀from฀being฀a฀drug฀with฀religious฀and฀ceremonial฀connotations฀to฀a฀ product฀ of฀ mass฀ consumption฀ in฀ the฀ case฀ of฀ opium,฀ only฀ the฀ Law฀ on฀ Anaesthetics฀ blocks฀its฀illegal฀spread. • ฀ If฀the฀tobacco฀plant฀had฀not฀contained฀nicotine,฀it฀would฀never฀have฀attained฀its฀world- wide฀signiicance.฀However,฀since฀it฀does,฀the฀tobacco฀companies฀in฀a฀small฀number฀of฀ countries฀earn฀an฀estimated฀hundreds฀of฀billions฀at฀the฀expense฀of฀the฀health฀of฀billions฀ of฀smokers฀throughout฀the฀world. • ฀ Even฀200–300฀years฀ago,฀attitude฀of฀Europeans฀towards฀tobacco฀were฀clearly฀ambiva- lent,฀as฀relected฀in฀the฀actions฀of฀monarchs฀e.g.฀James฀of฀England฀and฀statesmen.฀On฀ the฀one฀hand,฀economic฀controls฀were฀used฀to฀ban฀tobacco,฀while฀on฀the฀other฀regula- tory฀mechanisms฀were฀successfully฀exploited฀to฀make฀capital฀from฀the฀sale฀of฀tobacco.฀ In฀the฀Europe฀of฀past฀centuries,฀a฀variety฀of฀methods฀were฀selected฀to฀achieve฀these฀ ends:฀import฀and฀export฀taxes,฀monopolies฀on฀the฀manufacture฀of฀tobacco฀products,฀ leasing฀of฀factories฀by฀the฀state฀or฀transfer฀of฀rights฀to฀these,฀taxation฀of฀land฀set฀aside฀ for฀tobacco฀cultivation,฀etc. Fig. 1.8 ฀฀฀An฀example฀for฀ advertising฀encouraging฀ women฀to฀smoke฀and฀ incorporating฀a฀historical฀ reference฀to฀emancipation฀ “You’ve฀come฀a฀long฀way฀ baby” • ฀ The฀German฀government฀and฀its฀politicians฀have฀adopted฀this฀ambivalent฀attitude฀from฀ the฀past฀and฀have฀denied฀protection฀from฀the฀dangers฀of฀smoking฀to฀the฀majority฀of฀its฀ electorate,฀the฀non-smokers.฀They฀have฀also฀failed฀to฀protect฀the฀majority฀of฀smokers฀ from฀the฀increasingly฀apparent฀dangers฀of฀smoking. • ฀ In฀most฀countries฀in฀the฀world,฀cigarette฀smoking฀is฀the฀number฀1฀killer.฀Worldwide,฀ more฀ people฀ die฀ from฀ the฀ consequences฀ of฀ cigarette฀ smoking฀ than฀ from฀ any฀ other฀ disease.฀Despite฀these฀problems,฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀has฀been฀able฀to฀increase฀its฀ annual฀turnover฀by฀wooing฀new฀smokers฀of฀both฀sexes฀Fig.฀ 1.8 .฀Under฀these฀circum- stances,฀it฀is฀expected฀that฀in฀the฀year฀2025฀more฀than฀2฀million฀people฀in฀the฀European฀ Union฀alone฀will฀die฀from฀the฀consequences฀of฀cigarette฀smoking฀if฀this฀trend฀is฀not฀ halted฀soon. References ฀ 1.฀Akuhurst฀BC฀1981฀Tobacco.฀Longman,฀London ฀ 2.฀Japan฀Tobacco฀Plant฀Breeding฀฀Genetic฀Research฀Laboratory฀1994฀The฀genus฀Nicotiana฀ illustrated ฀ 3.฀Tabernaemontanus฀DIT฀1664฀New฀vollkommen฀Kräuter-Buch.฀Johann฀Königs,฀Basel ฀ 4.฀Wilbert฀J฀1987฀Tobacco฀and฀Shamanism฀in฀South฀America.฀Yale฀University฀Press,฀New฀Haven ฀ 5.฀Travell฀J฀1940฀The฀inluence฀of฀the฀hydrogen฀ion฀concentration฀on฀the฀absorption฀of฀alkaloids฀ from฀the฀stomach.฀J฀Pharmacol฀Exp฀Ther฀69:23–33 ฀ 6.฀Robicsek฀F฀1978฀The฀smoking฀gods.฀Tobacco฀in฀Maya฀art,฀history฀and฀religion.฀The฀University฀ of฀Oklahoma฀Press,฀Norman ฀ 7.฀Corti฀ECC฀1930฀Die฀trockene฀Trunkenheit:฀Ursprung,฀Kampf฀und฀Triumph฀des฀Rauchens.฀Insel,฀ Leipzig ฀ 8.฀Tiedemann฀F฀1854฀Geschichte฀des฀Tabaks฀und฀anderer฀ähnlicher฀Genussmittel.฀H.฀L.฀Brömmer,฀ Frankfurt ฀ 9.฀Monardes฀N฀1970฀Joyful฀Newes฀Out฀to฀the฀Newe฀Founde฀Worlde.฀London.฀1577฀reprint.฀ Da฀Capo฀Press,฀Amsterdam 10.฀Laufer฀ B฀ 1924฀ Introduction฀ of฀ tobacco฀ into฀ Europe.฀ Field฀ Museum฀ of฀ Natural฀ History,฀ Chicago 11.฀Brooks฀JE฀1952฀The฀mighty฀leaf.฀In:฀Little฀B฀ed฀Tobacco฀through฀the฀centuries.฀Little฀Brown,฀ Boston 12.฀Sandgruber฀R฀1994฀Genussmittel.฀Ihre฀reale฀und฀symbolische฀Bedeutung฀im฀neuzeitlichen฀ Europa.฀In:฀Jahrbuch฀für฀Wirtschaftsgeschichte.฀Akademie,฀Berlin,฀pp฀73–88 13.฀Jacob.฀1603฀MBR.฀Misocapnus฀seu฀de฀abusu฀tabaci฀lusus฀regius.฀London 14.฀Precht฀K,฀Baumgartner฀HJ฀1993฀Tabak.฀Gewohnheiten,฀Konsequenzen.฀Edition฀diá,฀St.฀Gallen 15.฀Bunbury฀H฀1794฀A฀Smoking฀Club.฀S.W.฀Fores฀No.฀3,฀Piccadilly 16.฀Tilley฀ NM฀ 1948฀ The฀ bright-tobacco฀ industry,฀ 1860–1929.฀ University฀ of฀ North฀ Carolina฀ Press,฀Chapel฀Hill 17.฀Slade฀J฀1993฀Nicotine฀delivery฀devices.฀In:฀Orleans฀CT,฀Slade฀J฀eds฀Nicotine฀addiction:฀ principles฀and฀management.฀Oxford฀University฀Press,฀New฀York,฀pp฀3–23 18.฀Tilley฀NM฀1985฀The฀R.J.฀Reynolds฀Tobacco฀Company.฀University฀of฀North฀Carolina฀Press,฀ Chapel฀Hill 19.฀Kluger฀R฀1996฀Ashes฀to฀ashes.฀America’s฀Hundred-Year฀Cigarette฀War,฀the฀Public฀Health,฀ and฀the฀Unabashed฀Triumph฀of฀Philip฀Morris.฀Alfred฀A.฀Knopf,฀New฀York 20.฀Lorillard฀P฀Jr฀1895฀American฀tobacco฀factories.฀In:฀Depew฀CM฀ed฀One฀hundred฀years฀of฀ American฀commerce.฀Haynes,฀New฀York