Tobacco industry tactics

Abstract

The tobacco industry's strong-arm tactics have been used consistently over many years. These tactics include: using the industry's size, wealth, and legal resources to intimidate individuals and local governmental bodies; setting up 'front groups' to make it appear that it has more allies than it really does; spending large sums of money to frame the public debate about smoking regulations around 'rights and liberty' rather than health and portraying its tobacco company adversaries as extremists; 'investing' thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to politicians; and using financial resources to influence science. These tactics are designed to produce delay, giving the nicotine cartel more time to collect even more profits at the direct expense of millions of lives around the world.