Ethical Issues In The Tobacco Industry

If we look at the tobacco industry we clearly see that the manufactures that make tobacco products help fund and provide research on the use of their product, not hinder it. We the people have access to that information, and our right to choose whether or not we use tobacco products remains in our hands.

Tobacco companies denied the health effects of nicotine, knowing fully that the substance was highly addictive. The industry also used misleading advertising that never showed the negative effects of their products. They targeted children with their misleading marketing campaigns causing generations of smokers. As a result of these actions, the public is suffering the consequences. "The government of Canada spends 4 billion dollars in direct health care costs every year because of tobacco" (BGMI, 2005). The settlements resulting from lawsuits against tobacco companies will regain some of those costs and take off some strain on health care system due to the treatment tobacco related diseases. The settlements can also help treat current patients with emphysema, cancer and other smoking-related diseases.

was 35.1 billion dollars. With a product that kills so many of its customers, your only concern in this industry is to increase sales and make a profit. Definitely in the tobacco industry and most others, it is my opinion that you cannot cater to the best interest of both the company and the consumer. Even a good company with the best intentions will eventually come to a crossroad where choosing what is best for one will not have such a great outcome for the other. Their best interests will ultimately conflict, and you will be forced make a choice between the two.

The use of tobacco is a very controversial topic here in the United States. The harmful side effects of tobacco are well known and consequently, many believe that it should be outlawed. Though this has not yet occurred, constant regulations on the industry and

Advertising for tobacco is another source that cause teenagers smoke and adults smoke. Recently, tobacco companies have found new ways to promote their products to youth. They support their sporting events, concerts and movie. Many people favor idols or stars smoke in the movies and they seems very cool. And Teenagers are curious about imitation. Smoke containing nicotine acts as a stimulant to the brain. Nicotine in the bloodstream acts to make the smoker feel calm. In fact, nicotine is a lethal poison, affecting the heart, blood vessels, and hormones. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds. More than 60 of these are known or suspected to cause cancer. What is more, secondhand smoke can be harmful in many ways and it ruins thousands of non-smoking people, children's health. The US Surgeon General and the US Food and Drug Administration are among those who have examined the evidence and concluded that tobacco advertising does increase overall consumption. If we ban adverts on tobacco products, they will gradually lose their appeal, because they won't symbolize anything "cool", "smart" or "amazing". Tobacco products will become ordinary consumption goods and thus the number of young people who take up smoking in order to "be somebody" will decrease.

However our concern here is not only about the cigarette as a product but with the ethics of cigarettes as well, that affect the social process of marketing. This is because marketing process makes things worse and is also considered as unethical, and as a result has a significant negative impact on the societal welfare. Multinational tobacco companies apply sophisticated strategies ( such as putting flavor in the cigarettes and placing cigarettes in the shops near the sweets to make them more appealing) and invest huge amounts of money for marketing, in order to establish brand familiarity and future loyalty among young peoplem, to secure profits in the long run. 'The tobacco epidemic is a man-made international health crisis, created and sustained by multinational tobacco corporations.' (Yach, Brinchmann, Bellet page 2).

The tobacco industry kills more people in North America from Monday to Thursday of each week than the terrorists murdered in total on September 11, 2001. That sounds unrealistic, doesn’t it? Well, smoking is an epidemic that affects us all, whether you are a smoker or you aren’t. In order to stop this epidemic, we need to

The tobacco industry is important to the economy. In 1991, worldwide tobacco sales exceeded $59.8 billion and in 1992 the industry was rated as one of the top one hundred advertisers (Pechmann and Ratneshwar, 1994). However, there are high prices to pay - socially, economically, and personally - as a result of this industry. Annual mortality figures indicate that cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. An estimated 390,000 people die each year of smoke related illnesses, which is greater than the combined mortality for cocaine, crack, AIDS, homicide, suicide, and alcohol abuse (Botvin, G., Baker, Botvin, E., Dusenbury, Cardwell, and Diaz, 1993).

As discussed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, “tobacco use costs the United States billions of dollars each year. The total economic cost of smoking is more than $300 billion a year, which include nearly $170 billion spent on tobacco-related

Apart from the financial benefits that come from the tobacco, it also has its positive consequences. For instance, ruling out the tobacco industry may be unethical especially if the product emerges to be the cure for the obesity because nicotine can clear fat residues from an individual's system (Mujtaba, 2013). Not only that but also the act of closing down tobacco production may shut down the farmer's industry hence affecting their lives. Moreover, allowing the tobacco industry will emphasize on the freedom, liberty and also enhance the right to choose by consumers. Meaning, a government that is paternalistic should never interfere with its consumers who are also adult's choices-whether bad or good. Ideally, a consumer does not

This problem of creating a trendy stylish image of cigarettes are hurting many people by recruiting new young smokers from all around the world, winning over sales due to the false image and then addiction. Third world countries are hurt the most by this unethical way of advertising because they don’t have money for this extra expense that they now need due to addiction. Critics claim that sophisticated promotions in a unsophisticated societies entice people who cannot afford the necessities of life to spend money on luxury- and a dangerous one at that. Every cigarette manufacturer is in the image business, and tobacco companies say their promotional slant is both reasonable and common. They point out that in the Third World a lot of people cannot understand what is written in the ads anyway, so the ads zero in on the more understandable visual image. Due to actions such as this and the negative effect it has on people economically and physically, this is a good example of how the tobacco industry is unethical.

There are several ethical philosophies in play here regarding the tobacco company and these ethical issues can be explored by analyzing the myriad of interplay of relationships

This case deals with the ethical dilemma that Tobacco manufactures face when selling tobacco products in third world countries. First, there is the ethical dilemma of business versus health. The opening and development of the tobacco business in Third World countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Africa, is considered against the health consequences of tobacco use which according to an Oxford University epidemiologist, has estimated to cost 3 million lives annually rising to 10 million by 2050 without effective tobacco control program A second ethical dilemma is employment versus impoverishment, where the opportunities for work in the tobacco industry are considered against a background of malnutrition. This is a problem that

As we all know,Cigarettes are one thing that causes many health problems. I mention that we all know the effect of cigarettes because this is one thing that is advertised in this world everyday. One of your thoughts may be “ well cigarettes have been around for a very long time”, this thought is true. In fact When columbus arrived in the new world, the local gave them a dried leaf as a gift. At first, the colombians did not know where to use it. However, when they saw locals smoking with leaves, they called it cigar. During the 17th century the cigarettes spreaded through the countries. Although Cigarettes came along during our history, and the company just wants to continue to make lots of money, this is not an excuse to continue the disbursement of cigarettes throughout the world. Cigarette companies are aware that humans are addicted to the nicotine and also aware of all bad life effects that are caused by smoking. A few of these diseases are “Lung cancer, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”.Why are companies still disbursing and advertising cigarettes? Why are the cigarette companies not being stopped from disbursing and advertising cigarettes?

The argument for limiting the tobacco industry can also be seen as an ethical vs an economic one. But if we look at the big picture economically, we can still find arguments for the affirmative. The annual contribution of the tobacco industry to India is only 0.14% and the estimated health cost is .21% (Ban on tobacco ads by the government of India,