Tobacco industry
![]() | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (September 2010) |
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The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products.[1] It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any warm, moist environment, which means it can be farmed on all continents except Antarctica.
According to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the "tobacco industry" encompasses tobacco manufacturers, wholesale distributors and importers of tobacco products. This evidence-based treaty expects its 181 ratified member states to implement public health policies with respect to tobacco control "to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke."[2]
Tobacco, one of the most widely used
Tobacco is an agricultural commodity product, similar in economic terms to agricultural foodstuffs: the price is in part determined by crop yields, which vary depending on local weather conditions. The price also varies by specific species or cultivar grown, the total quantity on the market ready for sale, the area where it is grown, the health of the plants, and other characteristics individual to product quality.
Since 1964, conclusive medical evidence of the deadly effects of tobacco consumption has led to a sharp decline in official support for producers and manufacturers of tobacco, although it contributes to the agricultural, fiscal, manufacturing, and exporting sectors of the economy. Policy and law restricting tobacco smoking has increased globally, but almost 6 trillion cigarettes are still produced each year, representing an increase of over 12% since the year 2000.[7] Tobacco is often heavily taxed to gain revenues for governments and as an incentive for people not to smoke.[8]
History
For a history of how tobacco has been grown and marketed, see tobacco, smoking and articles on similar topics.
Position of industry
The phrase "tobacco industry" generally refers to the
- Altria
- British American Tobacco
- Imperial Tobacco
- Japan Tobacco
- Philip Morris International
Altria still owns the Philip Morris tobacco business in the United States, but Philip Morris International has been fully independent since 2008. In most countries these companies either have long-established dominance, or have purchased the major domestic producer or producers (often a former
Industry outlook in the United States
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2016) |

The tobacco industry in the United States has suffered greatly since the mid-1990s, when it was successfully sued by several U.S. states. The suits claimed that tobacco causes cancer, that companies in the industry knew this, and that they deliberately understated the significance of their findings, contributing to the illness and death of many citizens in those states.
The industry was found to have decades of
The suit resulted in a

The tobacco industry has historically been largely successful in this litigation process, with the majority of cases being won by the industry. During the first 42 years of tobacco litigation (between 1954 and 1996) the industry maintained a clean record in litigation
In June 2009, U.S. President
Lawsuits against the tobacco industry are primarily restricted to the United States due to differences in legal systems in other countries. Many businesses class ongoing lawsuits as a cost of doing business in the US and feel their revenue will be only marginally affected by the activities.

Major tobacco companies are dominating the political and policy-making environments just as they have in conventional cigarette policy making.[19] As they have done to influence tobacco control policies for conventional cigarettes, the large companies often try to stay out of sight and work through third parties that can obscure their links to the tobacco industry.[19] The one difference from the historical pattern of industry efforts to shape tobacco policy from behind the scenes is that there are also genuine independent sellers of e-cigarettes and associated users (so-called vape shops) who are not necessarily being directed by the cigarette companies.[19] These smaller operators are, however, losing market share to the big tobacco companies, and the real political power is now being exercised by the cigarette companies.[19] The cigarette companies try to take advantage of the existence of independent players while acting through the industry's traditional allies and front groups.[19]
Tobacco control
On May 11, 2004, the U.S. became the 108th country to sign the World Health Organization's Global Treaty on Tobacco Control. This treaty places broad restrictions on the sale, advertising, shipment, and taxation of tobacco products. The U.S. has not yet ratified this treaty in its Senate and does not yet have a schedule for doing so.
Most recently, there has been discussion within the tobacco control community of transforming the tobacco industry through the replacement of tobacco corporations by other types of business organizations that can be established to provide tobacco to the market while not attempting to increase market demand.[23]
On February 20, 2007, the
On April 3, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit threw out an $800 billion class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of a group or class of people who smoked light cigarettes. The plaintiffs' lawyers were confident that they would be able to win this suit due to the success of Schwab v. Philip Morris[26] wherein tobacco companies were found guilty of fraud-like charges because they were selling the idea that light cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes. The ruling by the three-judge panel will not allow the suit to be pursued as a class, but instead need proof for why individual smokers chose light cigarettes over regular cigarettes.[27]
Production by country or region

The
Country or region | Production in thousands of tons |
---|---|
![]() |
2,188.1 |
![]() |
772.2 |
![]() |
667.3 |
![]() |
225.6 |
![]() |
202.9 |
![]() |
166.9 |
![]() |
133.6 |
![]() |
103.8 |
![]() |
95.6 |
![]() |
95.5 |
World | 5,780.9 |
Cigarette production by factory
Much of global tobacco production is used in the manufacturing of cigarettes. The following is a chart compiled by Dr. Robert Proctor detailing the largest cigarette factories, accompanied by their estimated annual death toll due to the harms of cigarettes to health.[29]
In popular culture
The tobacco industry has had a long relationship with the entertainment industry. In silent era movies, back-lit smoke was often used by filmmakers to create sense of mystery and sensuality in a scene. Later, cigarettes were deliberately placed in the hands of Hollywood stars as an early phase of
These issues have also constituted a recurring storyline in the
See also
References
- PMID 22095331.
- ISBN 9241591013. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "The 5 Most Addictive Substances On Earth". Addiction Center. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "Tobacco & Colonial American Economy". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ Chelala, Cesar (9 April 2013). "Comparing tobacco fight to the Opium Wars". The Japan Times. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "U.S. Tobacco Production, Consumption, and Export Trends". everycrsreport.com. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
- ^ "Manufacturing Cigarettes". World Lung Foundation and American Cancer Society. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
- ^ "Tobacco Prices and Taxes". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
- PMID 10926570.
- PMID 10625272.
- ^ Haines v Liggett Group, Inc, 818 F Supp 414, 421 (DNJ 1993), quoted in Daynard et al. 2000
- PMID 17130629.
- ^ Craver, Richard (24 June 2014). "Reynolds loses another 'Engle' case in Florida". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ Nohlgren, Stephen (24 June 2014). "U.S. Supreme Court sides against Big Tobacco in Florida litigation". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Obama signs sweeping anti-smoking bill – politics – White House – NBC News". NBC News. 22 June 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ "FDsys – Browse Congressional Bills" (PDF). frwebgate.access.gpo.gov.
- ^ "General Questions and Answers on the Ban of Cigarettes that Contain Certain Characterizing Flavors" (PDF). US Department of Health and Human Services. US Food and Drug Administration. 22 September 2009.
- PMID 25731134.
- ^ license.
- S2CID 206992720.
- PMID 28642230.
- PMID 28961314.
- ^ C. Callard, D. Thompson and N. Collishaw, Curing The Addiction To Profits: A Supply-Side Approach To Phasing Out Tobacco (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2005)
- ^ "Supreme Court throws out Philip Morris verdict – Business – US business – NBC News". NBC News. 20 February 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ "Philip Morris USA v. Williams, Mayola – Medill – on the Docket". Archived from the original on 4 February 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
- ^ Johnston, David Kay and Melanie Warner (26 September 2006). "US: Tobacco Makers Lose Key Ruling on Latest Suites". New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
- ^ Saul, Stephanie (3 April 2008). "Suit on Light Cigarettes Is Thrown Out". New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
- ^ "Unmanufactured tobacco production in 2022, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (pick lists)". UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT). 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- PMID 22345227.
- PMID 11893818. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
Further reading
- Apollonio, Dorie; Malone, Ruth E. (2005). "Marketing to the marginalised: tobacco industry targeting of the homeless and mentally ill". Tobacco Control. 14 (6): 409–415. PMID 16319365.
- Brandt, Allan. The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America (2007). online
- Enstad, Nan. Cigarettes, Inc.: An Intimate History of Corporate Imperialism (U of Chicago, 2018) excerpt
- Glantz, S. A.; Slade, J.; Bero, L. A.; Hanauer, P.; Barnes, D. E. (1996). The Cigarette Papers. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520205727.
- Goodman, Jordan, ed. Tobacco in History and Culture. An Encyclopedia (2 vol, Gage Cengage, 2005) online
- Hahn, Barbara. Making Tobacco Bright: Creating an American Commodity, 1617–1937 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011). examines how marketing, technology, and demand caused the dominance of Bright Flue-Cured Tobacco.
- Hannah, Leslie. "The Whig Fable of American Tobacco, 1895–1913," Journal of Economic History 66#1 (2006), pp. 42–73 online, argues most historians misinterpret the company.
- Hirschfelder, Arlene B. Encyclopedia of smoking and tobacco (1999) online
- MacKay, Judith (2002). The Tobacco Atlas. ISBN 92-4-156209-9.
- Males, Mike A. (1999). Smoked: Why Joe Camel Is Still Smiling. Common Courage Press. ISBN 1-56751-172-4.
- Milov, Sarah (2019). The Cigarette: A Political History. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674241213.
- Oreskes, Naomi, and Erik M. Conway. Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming (Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011).
- Parker-Pope, Tara. Cigarettes: Anatomy of an Industry from Seed to Smoke (2002) online
- ISBN 9780520270169.
- Tennant, Richard B. American Cigarette Industry: A Study in Economic Analysis and Public Policy (Yale UP, 1950) online
- Tennant, Richard B. "The Cigarette Industry" in The Structure of American Industry, edited by Walter Adams (1961) pp 357–392. online
- Tilley, Nannie M. The R.J. Reynolds tobacco company (UNC Press Books, 1985) online
- Wagner, Susan. Cigarette Country: Tobacco in American History and Politics (Praeger, 1971). online
External links
- UCSF Tobacco Industry Videos Collection
- UCSF Tobacco Industry Audio Recordings Collection
- University of South Florida Libraries: The Tobacco Leaf Journal which was published by C. Pfirshing of New York beginning in 1865. He called the journal the "organ of the tobacco trade in the United States."