Articles

Tobacco's toll deadlier than all U.S. wars

By Rowland Nethaway
Waco Tribune-Herald
Feb. 11, 2008

The United States should work with the United Nations to pass tobacco nonproliferation treaties.

The World Health Organization estimates tobacco use will kill 1 billion people in the 21st century unless governments aggressively curb the spread and use of tobacco.

Responsible governments felt it was imperative to pursue treaties to stop the spread of arms and nuclear weapons for the sake of humanity. They should make an effort to vanquish tobacco products for the same reason.

The WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008 urges all nations to dramatically increase efforts to prevent young people from beginning to smoke, help smokers quit and protect nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke.

Many people are willing to accept hundreds of thousands of needless deaths annually when it comes to the use of tobacco but deeply mourn only a fraction of those deaths caused by military action.

Though government studies estimate that 500,000 Americans die every year from tobacco-related diseases, Congress refuses to give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products.

In a 16-month period, more Americans are killed by tobacco than all the combined battle deaths that occurred during the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War, as well as the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. How many of those battle deaths could have been prevented remains a subject of debate since wars often must be fought to preserve independence and freedom.

There is no debate, however, on the number of tobacco-related deaths that can be prevented —- all of them.

A major obstacle in establishing an international effort to reduce tobacco deaths was spelled out in the WHO report. Governments around the world collect more than $200 billion in tobacco taxes every year. Out of all those revenues less than one fifth of 1 percent of that revenue is spent on tobacco control.

That should come as no surprise to Americans who have seen their politicians go out of their way to avoid placing restraints on the tobacco companies that pump campaign donations into campaign coffers.

In 1965, cigarette packages manufactured in the United States were required to carry a warning label that said: "Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health."

In 1970, the warning labels were changed to say: "The surgeon general has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health."

These warning labels were a boon to American tobacco companies. The labels were used to prevail over lawsuits trying to recover damages for the death and maiming caused by cigarette smoking.

Their customers were warned, argued the tobacco companies, and they chose to ignore the warnings.

Despite the lack of assistance from the nation's capital, lawsuits started going against the tobacco industry. Cities, states and business leaders successfully pushed for laws, ordinances and rules that curbed smoking.

A Harvard study early this year concluded that cigarette makers have for years deliberately increased nicotine levels in cigarettes to make them more addictive.

Congress still refuses to give the FDA power to regulate tobacco products that are increasingly being marketed in foreign countries.

Unless the United States works with the United Nations to control the spread and use of tobacco products worldwide, it appears likely that tobacco will kill 1 billion people by 2100.

Rowland Nethaway writes for the Waco, Texas, Tribune-Herald. His column appears occasionally.

Source: http://www.ajc.com/search/content
/nethawayed0211.html

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